Mats Ulander got his dream job with Wayne Gretzky himself.
A few hours later, the Swede walked into a bar.
There, The Great One was waiting – with a real surprise.
Mats Ulander may not be the most well-known name in Swedish hockey history, but for all AIK players he is a legend. In total, there were over 300 matches in the then Elitserien, and also a very respectable 231 points. In addition, there was SM gold with “Gnaget” in 1982 and 1984.
Bumped into Gretzky
But there was only one WC for Ulander, and that was in Helsinki in 1982. In total, there were two points in ten games – but off the ice he was involved in something really powerful. The tournament also featured Wayne Gretzky, who came off a season with over 200 points scored in the NHL. And Ulander and Gretzky’s paths would, unexpectedly enough, cross.
Gretzky and Ulander had the same skate supplier, Daoust, and they would both do a publicity job together.
– We met him because Daoust wanted to do a job with him and me, so we started talking. We were going to photograph him and me with this skate and we did this job in his hotel room, Ulander told Hockey Sweden.
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The big surprise
After the advertising job, it was an evening off for both Ulander and Gretzky, and in those days it was perhaps not as strict as it is today.
– No one cared at this time that you went out on a night off. We went to something called Silverbar in Helsinki. Me and Gretzky had somehow found each other. He had gone to Silverbar that evening with his photographer who was always with him then, he was there like a bit of a smurf, haha, says Ulander.
Once Ulander arrived at the bar, however, a real surprise awaited.
– We ate with the team and after that some of us went to Silverbar. Everyone was drinking beer. It was just beer, beer, beer, especially the NHL players. For some reason I got there a little later. Then Gretzky sat there with the little photographer at a round table and every inch of this table was covered with beer glasses. There were people around him and then he had apparently said that no one touches a beer until Ulander comes. When I arrived, there was joy and people got carried away.
Mats Ulander had been drafted a few years earlier by the Edmonton Oilers, something that Gretzky was well aware of. But there were never any NHL games, despite a contract that would bring good money.
– I received a contract proposal that Björn Wagnsson had negotiated. I think I would get $80,000. Of course I would have screwed up in Sweden even though I was stuck in a contract.
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