As much as I am hoping that Peter Forsberg's foot will finally heal, I have to admit it is not looking very good at the moment. In fact things are looking more bleak than ever. When he stepped off the ice, ending practice with the national team early, the look on his face said it all. When asked by a Swedish reporter, "Had he ever been closer to retiring than now", Forsberg just answered "No".
It seems likely this was the end of the line for the guy who just a few years ago was considered the best all-round player in the known universe, but one should keep one thing in mind, this guy is as stubborn as they come. In fact, what brought him to the top, got him two Stanley Cups, Olympic golds, the Hart Trophy and so much more was, except his amazing talent, also his stubbornness. Peter Forsberg is a winner and he absolutely hates losing, and even though he is probably contemplating retirement now more than ever before, it seems unlikely he would let someone or something other than him self decide when it is quitting time.
When reading all the papers and hockey reporters it is quite clear that most of them are now ready to write him off, and perhaps this is the end of the line for the future Hall of famer. It is just that when it comes to Forsberg I refuse to say it's over before I hear the words coming out of his mouth, "This is it. I quit." Until that happens, I will continue to hope for more magic.
4 comments:
Yep I sure as hell feel sorry for the guy. I'm sick of hearing about all his operations and aborted practices but at the same time I have major problems cutting up a guy with such determination. He never gives up.
What's really ironic is that Forsberg's potential career ending foot injury comes less than 24 hours before the wires break the news that Eric Lindros will announce his retirement this week. So the Forsberg-Lindros connection finds a life again. There is more than just the big trade binding these two as they (when healthy) had pretty similar stats and they were both heavily injury-proned throughout their playing days. Lindros never enjoyed the same type of powerhouse cast Forsberg had in Colorado but the Big E, along with his parents, thought he was bigger than the game which became his demise before his prime was up. Forsberg was, and has always been, a team-first player and he walked away with 2 Cups in the process. It'd be cool seeing him take a run at a third cup thus a curtain call feels a little premature for a guy with such perseverance and passion for the game.
So true. It would have been interesting to see what the years between Forsberg's entry to the NHL and now would have looked like had both of these guys been free from major injuries.
Granted Lindros didn't enjoy as good a supporting cast as Forsberg did in Denver, but from 92-94 playing along side Recchi and (then rookie) Renberg, and especially during the Legion of Doom season of 94-95 he was pretty spectacular to watch.
By the way, in 1993 Mikael Renberg should have won the Calder for his record-breaking 82 points.
Lindros was spectacular to watch indeed and so was Renberg along with Leclair. Just outta curiosity, which record did Renberg break? Was it Philly's own rookie record in points total? I know that both Teemu Selanne and Joe Juneau cleared the 82-point hurdle in their rookie campaigns in the early 90's. Selanne scored something like 72 or 76 goals, yes goals, in his rookie season with Winnipeg.
I think Juneau tallied something like 102 points in total with the Bruins as a rookie. Then the Boston brass traded this star the following year for, hold on to your hats, Al Iafrate who ended up playing a total of four games for Boston! But that's another story.
Yes it was the Flyer's franchise rookie record he broke with his 82 points in the 1993-94 (and nothing else that I might have written previously).
Selanne had 76 goals and 132 points (both NHL rookie records) in the Winnipeg Jets 92-93 campaign. Juneau indeed mustered a total of 102 points in that same season, and his 70 assists still stands as an NHL rookie record (shared with Peter Stastny (198-81).
In Al Iafrate's defense I have to point out that he in fact has twelve games for the Bruins on his resume.
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