Peter Forsberg Q and A

 

NHL PR

The Flyers currently are first in the Atlantic Division and first overall in the National Hockey League standings with a record of 27-9-6 for 60 points. With games in Chicago tomorrow and Detroit on Thursday, Philadelphia is finishing up an 11-game road trip that has seen them go 7-1-1 so far. Drafted by the Flyers sixth overall in 1991, Peter is in his first season with Philadelphia. He leads the team in scoring with 56 points on 14 goals and 42 assists, placing him tied for fifth in overall NHL scoring. His 42 assists tie him for second in the league with Atlanta's Marc Savard, two behind San Jose's Joe Thornton.

A native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, Peter was recently named to the Swedish National Team for the 2006 Olympic Games, to be held in Turin, Italy in February. It will be his third Olympics, having participated in 1998 in Nagano and in 1994 in Lillehammer, where he scored the gold medal-winning goal in a shootout against Canada.

Q. Talk about what this road trip that's been like, obviously you've had success in the win/loss column, but I'm sure this is one of the longest that you've had in your career?
PETER FORSBERG: Yeah, 11 games, we're not really used to that. I don't think anybody is. But we got to go home after I think after five or six because we played Washington or New Jersey, so we got to go home for a few days. Definitely mentally to play 11 in a row on the road, it's something new, but it makes it easy when you win, so it's been okay.

Q. What's the secret been to all of the success that your hockey club, not only maybe on the road trip has had, but this entire year right now, being the No. 1 team in the National Hockey League?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, you know, if you look at the team, we had a lot of injuries, but all of the guys have been coming up, all of the young guys, the rookies, the goalie and a few other guys coming in, they have been playing great. They have been carrying the team for a little bit here. But lately on the road trip, we've had some luck, too. Every game we won, I think, was by one goal, so fortunate in the end here. Just overall, I think we played pretty good hockey, too, occasionally and we've just got to keep it going.

Q. And Saturday's game against Colorado, have you had it circled on the calendar, are you thinking about it at all?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, I definitely know we're playing Colorado. It's going to be a little special, I was there for a long time and I know a lot of the guys. On the other hand, you get on the ice, you just have to make sure you're professional and do your best and try to make my team win.

Q. Playing under the new conditions and the new rules, if you will, in the League, how different is it now playing in the League than it was three, four, five years ago?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, it is a little different, but I think we're getting back a little bit to the older rules again. The referees were calling a lot at the beginning of year but they are kind of going back a little bit. I think it's better hockey now, not too much grabbing and holding. I think if you're looking around the League, scoring is still up. And I think it's good for hockey that we got back the back-and-forth, good skating and a lot more scoring chances. I think it's good.

Q. Personally, did you have to make any adjustments in your own game?

PETER FORSBERG: No, not really. I don't think I changed too much. Of course, you can't - like everybody else, grabbing or holding, you play a little more in the defensive zone, or you have to be a little bit more careful of being more in position than you used to be. But other than that, it's same stuff I think.

Q. I'm wondering if you could talk about the Olympics for a second. Your country, once again, is obviously seen as one of the gold medal favorites. Is the difference this time around perhaps Henrik Lundqvist? You go into the tournament with a young, hot goalie?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, we do have a good goalie. He's been playing great for the Rangers all year. He was outstanding in the Swedish League for a couple years, too. We definitely have a good outlet there. On the other hand, the other guys are getting older, it's almost our last Olympics, so with Alfredsson, me, Sundin, Lidstrom, Naslund a few other guys, so I think we do have a pretty good mix. But we had a good goalie before, too, in '98, we fell short to Finland in the quarterfinals, 2-1, I don’t think we can blame the goalie. I think we do have a pretty good team, but on the other hand, the other teams look good, too. I think it's six or seven other teams have a shot to take a medal.

Q. Can you explain to some of us, obviously in North America, I've been able to go to a couple World Championships, but the hunger in your country to avenge what happened in Salt Lake City, hockey is so important in Sweden, what is that like, a lot of the players heard about it for a long time after the Belarus game.

PETER FORSBERG: Yeah, we got to hear it for a long, long time. Fortunately for me, I wasn't there. But I mean, we do have a little revenge there. Like I said we got knocked out twice in the quarterfinals in the last Olympics. For us, I think we like to go a little further than that. You know, it's just a short tournament, too. You're going to need some luck in the quarterfinals and the semis and see who you're playing and a couple of bounces. Definitely we're looking forward to this one. I think we feel pretty confident we have a good team and hopefully we can go far.

Q. A lot of Denver people want to know, how do you like Philadelphia and how do you like living on the East Coast and have you turned into an American historian there by visiting Benjamin Franklin's house or anything like that?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, I like the city. I mean, I think I got to a great situation. I came to a good team with a lot of good players, a lot of young, good players, and I've been lucky. I came to a great organization. The thing is, I had a great time in Colorado, that was great, I'm not saying it was bad. But I like it here. You know, winning makes it easy, too, to get you through the day so much; it's easier if you're winning. It's been good so far, and I can't complain about anything.

Q. Was there a culture shock for you a little bit? I know the East Coast is a lot different from the West, and especially from Europe. Are you used to the accents and the faster pace of life?

PETER FORSBERG: It's no problem. Like you said, it's a little different. I was living in Denver for so long, you know where to go and you knew where everything was. It is a little different here, a little East Coast mentality. And especially with the fans here, they have been fans since I don't know how long. It's a little bit different than Denver, we came right in and it was k ind of new. Like I said, I like it here. But I have not been to many historical sites yet. We've been kind of busy, but I'll make that time later on, though.

Q. In the beginning of the season, did you find yourself watching a lot of Colorado games, or did you still watch a lot of Colorado games, and lastly, how do you compare Hejduk to Simon Gagne?

PETER FORSBERG: I do watch the Avalanche occasionally on TV. With the time change that's happened, they start playing later and when I get home maybe after a game or late at night, they are on. Of course, I still have a lot of friends that I like to see how they are doing. But on the other hand, it's not like I regret coming here. I feel great about my team. Of course I'm watching the guys to see how they are doing. They have been doing better lately I guess. And comparing Simon to Milan, I think they are both great players, good goal scorers, knows how to score goals and not afraid, either of them to go in front of the net and pay the price, either. So I've been really fortunate coming to play with a great player here. I had Milan and Tanguay there for a while, they are outstanding players. Tanguay is having an outstanding year, too. Just comparing them, I don't know, it's hard to compare. I think they are both good players and I enjoy playing with them both.

Q. All those years in Colorado, you had some great battles with Derian Hatcher, is it weird being a teammate now?

PETER FORSBERG: Not weird, but I think it's great to be a teammate with him because I know how hard it is to play against him, so it's great to have him on my side for once. You know, we used to be, like you said, a lot of games when we played in Dallas, it was tough games every time we played against him. So I'm really happy to have him on my side.

Q. Philadelphia turned over so many players from a team that went within a game of getting to the Stanley Cup Final, how is it that the team has been able to come together as quickly, considering you're a new face and you've got the two new guys on defense, you've got those three kids up from the minors, it's very rare that a team can turn over 10-12 players and still stay at the top.

PETER FORSBERG: Well, yeah, I think we all kind of bought into Hitch's system and everything, it's kind of easy. All of the young guys coming up, they have been through the system a little bit and they play great hockey. Like I said, they have been winning a lot of games for us, the young guys, it's been surprising because we had so many guys hurt, we had like six or seven guys out for most of the year. And it's great that we've been playing and have the record we have with how many injuries. Overall, I think the young guys coming in, they know hockey, they are good players, Carter, Richards, Umberger, an d especially the goalie I would say, Niittymaki, has been winning a lot of games for us lately. So I don't know why exactly we've been able to win that many games, but I think everybody bought into the system right away and we have one focus, our goal for the year is winning.

Q. The Nashville Predators are getting ready to face Sidney Crosby for the first time this year, you've seen him a few times, wonder if you could offer your impressions of what he's been playing like on the ice and how he's handled the pressure off the ice as well?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, it's a lot of pressure on him. At least there are two great rookies around, Ovechkin and him. Sidney is a great player, he's got all of the tools, he moves on the ice, he's a really great skater, see the ice very, very well. I am impressed by those two guys. Sidney, he's got something extra. He's got the fire on the ice. He plays every shift like it's his last. He's going to do good. I'm impressed how he handles the press. It's a lot of pressure on him to be coming in this young guy like that, there’s a lot of hype, a lot of media around him, so he's been doing good.

Q. I guess everybody has different comparisons for him. Who do you compare him to so far in his rookie season?

PETER FORSBERG: I don't know who you compare him to. It's hard to say. I think he's got his own special style. He can do both, because he's both a play-maker and a goal-scorer. I don't know who you can compare him to, Ovechkin maybe to Kovalchuk, but I don't know who I would compare Sidney to, it's tough.

Q. You started out this year on the line with Mike Knuble and Simon Gagne and you had great success setting them up, just before he got injured it seems likes you were really finding Pitkanen over and over and over again. It looks like he's due to come back soon, can you tell us about the development of Pitkanen, a young defensemen that seems to be really improving?

PETER FORSBERG: You know, I didn't get to see him before that much. He's a great player. He moves on the ice. Like he's quiet on the ice, almost a skater like Niedermayer is, doesn't seem like it bothers him to go up and down the ice. I'm impressed by his play. It's going to be hard for him to keep it up. He had a couple of great games there in the end that scored overtime goals and everything. He's a good defenseman, he's only going to get better and better. And the older he gets, he gets more experienced. Definitely he means a lot to us on the blue line and we’ll be glad to get him back soon.

Q. Thinking about the Olympics and your teammates there, we've waited ten years to ask you what you think of Nick Lidstrom after all of those wars between Colorado and Detroit, why is Nick one of the greatest defensemen in the world?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, I think the thing about Lidstrom is he's so mobile on his skates. And he's just not out of position, he's always in the right position. And I don't know, you can't even hit him, he's just always gliding out of taking the hit. He's just a smooth player. Like I say, he moves on the ice so well, and it's tough to play against, even if he doesn't play that physical, but he never really seems to be beat.

Q. Were you surprised that Colorado didn't re-sign you and did you think the Avalanche maybe underestimated how much you had left in the tank?

PETER FORSBERG: I don't know if they underestimated. I think with the new system, when they matched Sakic and Tanguay like everybody thought they would, because they have been there for a long time, there was not a whole lot of money left.

So no bad feelings, it's just kind of the system that made it that I had to move. I kind of knew that kind of early, so I knew it was going to be tough to stay there and I was going to look around and find a place to go.

Q. Now you said you watched a couple of Colorado's games, how would you assess how they played and what you expect to see from them on Saturday?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, like I said, I think that they play solid hockey and are getting good goaltending lately. I saw Aebischer got Player of the Week or something, he's been playing good.

They do have a good team. They have some guys that weren’t there when I was there - Laperriere came in and played good, and a few other guys, too. So they have four good lines, I'm sure it's going to be a tough matchup. They belong to one of the top teams in the league, and what I see, like I said, they played a little up?and?down at the beginning of the year but I think it has been more solid lately.

Q. Quick question for you, when you left Denver before the lockout to go home and the season didn't go exactly the way you wanted to there, do you feel like you have gotten a fresh start in Philly?

PETER FORSBERG: I would say so a little bit, yes. It's just kind of new, and the situation, of course - I don't know if you say a little more motivated, but just something new and it comes to a little more pressure, too, when you come to a new town and a new team and the fans here, they are kind of demanding over here. So I knew I had to play good. I worked out really hard this summer, I was ready when the season started and I was very excited to come here and play.

Q. If Saturday's game was at the Pepsi Center instead of Philadelphia, would that be a little tougher for you to handle?

PETER FORSBERG: I would say so. I don't know how that would be. I would be more nervous, how the fans would react when I came back. It would be a little different and I would be a little more nervous, yeah.

Q. You talked a little bit about the differences of living on the East Coast, did you notice any differences playing in the Eastern Conference?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, traveling is a little easier. You don't travel to the other conference that much, but we usually get back every single night around midnight or at the latest one o'clock and it makes it easier on your body, especially now when I'm getting older, it's better, too.

Other than that, the game, if you look at it, the East plays a little different than the Wild West, I think with the new rules that everybody - and a lot of guys changing teams, I don't see a lot of difference between the play in Western teams and Eastern teams. But traveling is definitely much easier here on this side.

Q. Just wondering, before you ever played an NHL game, you had a gold medal from that '94 games, and then you went on to win a couple Cups with Colorado, just curious, which accomplishment means the most to you, does a medal trump the Cup or what?

PETER FORSBERG: You know, I try not to compare them. It's unbelievable to be part of a winning team, both the Olympics and the Stanley Cup.I used to see, when you grow up, Olympic athlete draped with Olympic gold, while it's kind of every hockey player's dream to win a Stanley Cup. It's a little different, but I try not to compare them. It was unbelievable to win the gold medal and I just don't want to compare them.

Q. When fans think of the leadership of Team Sweden, instinctively they think of yourself, Sundin, Naslund and Lidstrom, but Alfredsson helps makeup that leadership quota as well. What really impresses you about Alfie?

PETER FORSBERG: Well, he's an outstanding player, he's great on the ice. He's had experience, he's been a part of winning teams. I don't know, he's just - if you look at it, he's just a great guy. Everybody looks at him and he's very likable, everybody likes him. You look up to him, what he does on the ice, he works so hard on the ice every single night and so smooth. He's been the captain up there for a while and just overall, a good leader and a good person.

 

 

Photo: Peter Forsberg © Chris Fuller (Hokeja Vestnesis)