Mats Näslund: from little Viking to carpenter

We end up catching Mats Näslund somewhere in Sweden, and at the other end of the screen, we can hear the sound of tools mixing with the noise of everyday life.

This daily life has been Näslund’s since the former striker retired from hockey in the mid-1990s. Since then, the one Montrealers once nicknamed the little Viking has become what he once dreamed of. all that: a carpenter.

But hockey got in his way a bit.

“Before even arriving in Montreal in 1982, I had been a carpenter in Sweden for four years,” he begins by explaining. I had studied for it. But I arrived with the Canadiens in the NHL and I had to take a break from the tools! »

He arrived with the Canadian because the Montreal management had chosen to do what was (almost) not done at the end of the 1970s: try his luck with a European player. This is how the little Viking was born, in a way, the time of a second-round pick, the 37^e in total, in the 1979 draft.

It started with a 71-point season in 1982-83, fabricated amid insults and ungrateful comments, including from Don Cherry who never missed an opportunity to mock Naslund’s short stature (5’6″, according to the official NHL website) on television.

The Swede used to wear a helmet which also protected his ears, and it was undoubtedly a good deal, since the ungrateful comments did not seem to reach him… Even less during the 1985-1986 season when he was able to conclude the campaign with a harvest of 110 points.

To date, he remains the last member of the CH to have been able to cross the milestone of 100 points in a season.

“When I think of that year, the first thing that comes to mind is winning the Stanley Cup,” he adds. I don’t really remember a particular match, but I remember we had a success rate of around 27% [25,36 %, officiellement] during the digital advantages, so I took advantage of it!

“It was not uncommon for me to spend the full two minutes of a power play on the ice. In fact, it was I who decided when I had to return to the bench! I collected several of my 110 points in such situations. I don’t really watch the Canadiens’ games now, primarily because in Sweden their games are shown in the middle of the night, but I’m not surprised that no other player from the club has managed to beat this mark. With the size of goaltenders today and with the character of the game being less offensive than in the 1980s, a 100-point season for a player in Montreal could never happen again! »

Of this magical season, Näslund also kept the memory of returning by plane from Calgary, a few hours after the great triumph of the Canadian against the Flames in the final. “The number of supporters waiting for us at the airport was something. We had passed the flight without really being able to sleep, because several of our players suddenly believed that they had a talent for singing when this was not really the case… ”

After all that, after getting a ring he never wears, “because Swedes don’t really like glitz”, and after concluding his career with the Boston Bruins in 1994-95, Näslund chose to go home and take back his toolbox.

“In my best years with the Canadiens, I was making $300,000 a season… but regardless if I had made millions, I think I would still have continued my carpentry career. I work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., it keeps me in shape, it allows me to breathe fresh air too. I tried to run a junior hockey club when I retired, but it wasn’t for me. »

At 63, Mats Näslund does not know if he will continue for much longer like this, with his hammer in his hand. What he does know, however, is that he would like to come back to Montreal one day. “It’s far from being a tragedy and it’s not at all serious, but I would have thought that the Canadiens would have thought of inviting me to highlight my 110-point season, and it hasn’t happened yet. . »

The invitation goes out…