STOCKHOLM — As the unofficial King of Sweden cruised around Hovet Arena for practice Saturday — chin up, golden locks a-flapping in the cold — a gathering of Swedish youth hockey players chanted his name with glee: “Ny! Lan! Der!”
Practice. We’re talking about practice. Not a game. Practice.
After the skate, despite the opportunity to duck out of the rink undetected like most of his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates, William Nylander made a point to stroll toward the stands and greet each one of the children who admired him. Unhurried, he posed for every selfie, signed every autograph, smiling all the while.
Following practice, Nylander headed downtown, where a queue of supporters two blocks deep was waiting to meet him, the hottest guy in hockey.
Then Nylander woke up Sunday morning and played hero once more, burning countryman Marcus Johansson wide, cutting with aggression and grace toward Marc-Andre Fleury’s crease and flicking the overtime-winning goal blocker-side, igniting one more Nylander celebration in Stockholm.
In the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 OT defeat of the floundering Minnesota Wild Sunday and 3-2 regulation win over divisional rival Detroit Friday, Nylander was the first star by a mile: five individual points, four for the team, plus a player-of-the-game Rolex and a Viking ship full of memories.
“Stars kinda aligned,” Auston Matthews said of Nylander’s brilliance this week. “We all love Willy. He’s a special guy. He’s a special player.”
And this was a special trip for the jetlagged Leafs, who seized advantage of two tired opponents — both the Wild and Red Wings went to overtime against the Senators the night before facing Toronto — and extended their longest win streak of the season to four games.
Nylander, easily the most in-demand player in the Global Series, led the way in all categories this week: points, poses, popularity and poise.
“I just think he’s got such confidence and swagger here and now that he’s just feeling like he can turn the game at any point in time,” said coach Sheldon Keefe, impressed by how his stud winger scheduled some on-ice heroics between his many off-ice duties.
“To be able to do that and still spend time with his family and still put on a show on the ice, make the impact that he did, is tremendous. Thrilled for him.”
How does he do it, remain so unflappable in the face of contract-year pressure, at the eye of the hockey-media tornado in Toronto and now at home?
Mitchell Marner shrugged: “That guy’s mellow all the time. So, he’s chillin’.”
Keefe wonders if Nylander’s nonchalance has sprung from growing up around the NHL, following father Michael and learning by osmosis how to thrive around fans, teammates and cameras. How to give back to the game that has given him so much.
“He was built for it,” Keefe said.
“You can see he’s a bit of a rock star here. We learned that.”
The Maple Leafs learned that a little team-bonding and game-growing can go a long way to breaking up the 82-game grind.
“It’s one of those trips, for me, that you really come together as a team. You spent a lot of time together. And I think we’re ready for a couple days away from each other,” Matthews said with a grin.
“But just to go experience a different country, different culture, going to play hockey in a city like Stockholm. I’m definitely not gonna forget the sun going down at three o’clock.” Another smile. “But, no, it’s been a great week and a lot of fun.”
Keefe said living this sleep-deprived week gave him fresh appreciation for the NHL’s efforts overseas.
“It’s called the Global series for a reason. I talked to Leaf fans today from Austria and some others from Slovakia and Czech Republic. There’s people here from all over the world,” Keefe said. “So you start to get a feel for how important it is. To that end, we all have a role to grow the game, to expose the game to fans who love it.
“It’s a fitting end to the week for sure. For us. For Willy. For the fans, the city and country all that kind of stuff. It’s a terrific close to the event.”
Would the Maple Leafs be open to another voyage abroad, a chance to write a second chapter to their international fairy tale?
“Yeah,” Matthews said. “Maybe Mexico City would be fun. Go home for a bit.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Assisting on Matthews’ first-period goal, Nylander extended his point streak to 17 games (12-15–27), tying Connor McDavid for the longest season-opening streak by an active player.
The only Swedish player with a longer opening streak?
Mats Sundin, who brought his children out for the ceremonial faceoff.
• Left defenceman Jake McCabe, who returned from his groin injury last week, has quietly done an excellent job patrolling the right side, which he had some experience doing in Chicago.
“Sometimes we don’t have a great enough understanding how difficult that is for a lot of guys,” Keefe noted.
Logging more than 20 minutes a night, McCabe is a plus-4 over his past three games and has not been on the ice for an even-strength goal against. A positive development for a guy who battled through an inconsistent October.
• Man, is the Wild’s penalty kill ever horrendous.
Minnesota’s opponents have ripped 18 power-play goals in the past 13 games, dropping the Wild PK to just 65.5 per cent — dead last in the NHL.
If head coach Dean Evason’s job is in jeopardy, assistant Bob Woods, who runs the kill, should be nervous as well.
• Mark Giordano is willing to try a neck guard: “I think I should try ’em. I’m willing to try ’em. I think it’s pretty scary when you see what happened there in that game. Sad, sad moment in hockey. And I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me personally, I would be open to trying one. And hopefully, if it feels comfortable, I’d use it.”
• Having grown up in Vancouver, Morgan Rielly lights up talking about how he got the chance to meet Markus Näslund at a Stockholm welcome reception.
“It was cool,” Rielly said. “I grew up a Canucks fan, so I was a big fan of his. To meet him was fun.”
