Colby Guy
SUNRISE — As the Florida Panthers were making Thanksgiving plans, Oliver Ekman-Larsson got the opportunity to take a step back and realize how much he meant to his home country of Sweden.
Over the course of his 14-year NHL career, the 32-year-old has become one of the most famous Swedish players.
“It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” Ekman-Larsson said.
Ekman-Larsson was reminded of his impact pretty quickly when a large group of fans — as well as some old friends — came to Sunrise to cheer him on during the team’s three-game homestand last month.
Many of them came from Ekman-Larsson’s hometown of Tingsryd, a small village of just over 3,000 people.
Two of them coached Ekman-Larsson when he was just a kid.
“I had those guys growing up when I was playing in this province tournament,” he said.
“That was when I came out a little bit and felt like I maybe had a chance to do this and play hockey for a living. I felt like I was getting an opportunity to show what kind of player I was.
“They were a big part of it. With that being said, it’s a lot of other guys that have had a big help for me growing up but I think those two guys are great people and great coaches and we had such a good time in that tournament. We ended up winning it, so that was pretty cool.’’
After winning two gold medals in the IIHF World Championship and a silver medal in the 2014 Sochi Olympic games and putting up 453 points in 930 NHL games, Ekman-Larsson has earned his place in Sweden hockey lore.
Seeing so many familiar faces, and some new ones, come and visit him in Florida to show their support was something he truly appreciated.
“Hockey is what I do, but I think it’s all about being a good person and taking the time to help other people,’’ Ekman-Larsson said. “And I think that’s what I had along the way getting to the NHL. A lot of people cared about me, and obviously, I want to give back and do the same thing for other people.”
The group came donning Ekman-Larsson jerseys — split evenly between the Panthers’ red home jersey and Sweden’s yellow national team sweater.
Ekman-Larsson even took the time to greet the group at their hotel during their week-long stay.
“It was a great time,” said Ralph Öhberg, who has worked in the travel business for over 40 years and organized this trip and many others like it.
“He has always been very, very nice and very friendly when he was in Arizona the times we’ve been there. He spent lots of time talking about his life in Florida, about the game itself, and what it’s like living away from Sweden.”
This was not the first time the group traveled to see Ekman-Larsson play.
They made the trip three times while he was with the Arizona Coyotes from 2010 to 2021.
“They loved coming over here, watching hockey and they had a good time,” Ekman-Larsson said.
“At the same time, they were able to get away from the cold winter for a bit and get some sunshine. But for me, it was just nice to look out and see the half-Swedish, half-Panthers jerseys and it’s always nice to get that support from back home and people that you know.”
This was the first time they were able to see him since he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 2021 and subsequently bought out and signed by the Panthers two years later due to Covid travel restrictions.
Needless to say, they had fun in Florida.
“Florida was absolutely fantastic,” Öhberg said.
“We were happy with the weather, the first two games we watched with Edmonton and Boston were great games, the last one when they played Winnipeg was not that good, but it was kind of an NHL-in-November kind of game.”
The group rented out separate vans and got the chance to explore Florida.
A few of them went to the Keys during one of the Panthers’ days off, another drove up to the Kennedy Space Center while some others just hung out in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.
What impressed them the most was how much of a hockey town South Florida had become.
“I remember coming here 15 years back when [Olli] Jokinen was playing in Florida and the hockey wasn’t that good, but now it’s changed a lot,” Öhberg said.
“It’s definitely a new kind of game in Florida, better players and the people in Florida know way much more about the game itself. I can recall that people were getting up to buy food and leave the game two minutes before the game was over and it was like 2-2 when I couldn’t imagine people leaving.
“But now they know more about the game itself and it’s more like going to a hockey game in Toronto or Montreal.”
Friday’s game was special for both the group and Ekman-Larsson.
That day, fellow Tingsryd native David Gustavsson suited up on the other side for a rare battle between natives of the small village.
Only one other Tingsryd native, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut, is actively playing in the NHL while Kjell Samuelsson became the first in 1986.
“We were two guys from a really small town growing up, dreaming about playing in the NHL,” Ekman-Larsson said.
“To have two guys on the same ice at some, it was pretty special.”
Tingsryd has a special place in Ekman-Larsson’s heart and he still calls it home to this day.
He built a house there and still trains with the local second-division team, Tingsryds AIF, that he played on growing up during the summers.
“It was such a good environment to be in growing up,” Ekman-Larsson said.
“Everything was so close. The school is right there, the hockey rink is right there. So you can kind of walk back and forth between the school and the hockey rink. It’s a good setup overall and you can focus on becoming a better player.
“It’s special, that’s why I go back every summer and spend my offseason there.”
ON DECK
FLORIDA PANTHERS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS
- When: Thursday, 10 p.m.
- Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
- Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Florida won 2-0
- This Season (Vancouver Leads 1-0) — At Florida: Canucks 5, Panthers 3 (Oct. 21). At Vancouver: Thursday.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Vancouver leads 19-13-4, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Edmonton, 10 p.m.