(Editors’ note: This story was originally published in The Denver Post on June 4, 1995.)
Let’s see, you’re 21 years old, you make almost $3 million a year, you’re probably going to be the rookie of the year in the NHL and your native country already has immortalized you by putting you on a postage stamp.
Who wouldn’t want to live vicariously through Peter Forsberg, even for just a little while?
But the hockey player some already call Peter the Great is still a little uncomfortable being an idol to millions. He’d rather just hang out with his childhood friends in Sweden, or go fishing by himself than sign autographs.
Forsberg says his life would be perfect, if it weren’t for that darned fame and adulation.
“It’s something I’ve had to learn to deal with,” Forsberg said. “It’s not like I can’t go anywhere (in Sweden), but a lot of people know me. I’m still getting used to that. It’s hard sometimes.”
It might not get much easier for Forsberg in Denver. In a town that already has its share of sports heroes, Forsberg may become one of its biggest very soon.
The former Quebec Nordiques center already is being tabbed by many NHL people as the league’s next superstar. In his abbreviated first season with the Nordiques, Forsberg scored 15 goals and 35 assists, which was the most of any rookie in the league. He is expected to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, and many think it’s only a matter of time before he wins a most valuable player trophy.
“He’s a franchise-type of guy, the kind of player you can build your team around,” said Marc Crawford, the Nordiques coach who will be the coach of Denver’s new NHL team next season.
“With another year or two of experience, he knows how far he can go. And he’s a really good kid, too.”
Indeed, Forsberg doesn’t seem to need a larger hat size these days, even though it would be understandable if he did. Forsberg likes to hang out with old friends in Sweden, most of whom don’t play hockey.
This summer, he is staying at his father’s house until the construction of his new house is completed. Most of his time will be spent fishing, working out and “just spending time with my friends.”
“Just a lot of normal stuff,” said Forsberg, who came to the Nordiques in the blockbuster trade that sent Eric Lindros to Philadelphia. “I don’t like all the star stuff.”
Forsberg probably won’t get to spend as much time in Sweden as he’d like this summer, however. With the Nordiques moving to Denver, Forsberg needs to find a place to live during the season. He also is expected to join some of his teammates in town when COMSAT Video Enterprises — the team’s new owner — unveils the new uniforms and team name by the end of the month.
And Forsberg is very curious about Denver. Almost before a question could be posed to him, Forsberg had plenty of questions of his own. You could sense his relief when Forsberg was told Colorado is an outdoorsman’s paradise and has plenty of big mountains.
“Oh, yeah?” Forsberg said. “That sounds good. I have never been to Denver, but I have heard a lot of good things about it.”
Forsberg doesn’t know what to think of the Nordiques having to move out of Quebec. Because he can’t read French, Forsberg said he had a hard time keeping up with the news in Quebec the last few weeks before the sale.
“It was on our minds a little, but it didn’t affect our play at all, I don’t think,” Forsberg said. “The whole thing was a little crazy.”
Crazy, but in a way, describes Forsberg’s year as a player. It all started in last year’s Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
With his Swedish national team in an overtime shootout against Canada, Forsberg scored a brilliant goal that proved to be the game-winner.
Skating down center ice, Forsberg made a head fake and slid the puck into the net for a goal. When teammate Tommy Salo — this season’s International Hockey League MVP for the Denver Grizzlies — stopped the shot of Canada’s Paul Kariya, Sweden won the gold medal.
Forsberg’s winning goal was commemorated on a postage stamp in Sweden.
“That was very honorary,” Forsberg said. “But I don’t sit around thinking about it a lot. I was just the lucky one to score the goal.”
Forsberg said he and Salo kid around a lot about who the real hero of the victory was.
“He thinks he is, because he stopped Kariya’s shot, and he always says I never would have scored on him,” Forsberg said. “He’s just not too smart, that’s all.”
When Forsberg began his first season in the NHL, he wasn’t expecting the kind of year he had. Having always played on bigger rinks in Europe, Forsberg didn’t know how well he would adapt to smaller rinks and more physical style of the NHL.
“There really is a big difference in the NHL with the smaller rinks. You’ve got to make decisions with the puck a lot faster,” said Forsberg, whose father, Kent, began his first year coaching the Swedish National hockey team last Thursday. “But I had a lot of great teammates and that made it easier for me.”
Forsberg, who is under contract for the next two years, is considered one of the more rugged Europeans to come along in the last few years. Many players from Europe suffer from a reputation of being too soft for NHL play.
“But he’s as strong as they come, and he protects the puck better than almost anybody in the league,” said Nordiques captain Joe Sakic, who led the team with 62 points last season. “Peter is going to be a star for years and years. He’s just got so much ability.”
Forsberg said his biggest thrill so far is winning an Olympic gold medal, but it will take second place should Denver’s new team ever win a Stanley Cup.
“That would really be fun. I think, with our team, we’ve got a good chance at one,” Forsberg said. “We’ve got a lot of young players, and we should get better next season.
“I don’t think it will be hard for us to adjust to Denver, either.”
Likewise, there are a few hockey fans in Denver who can’t wait to see Forsberg.
Adrian Dater: adater@denverpost.com or at
