The hockey icon about new life in Switzerland
Updated 10.39 | Published 10.31
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ZUG. Peter Forsberg, 50, has lived in Zug for five years now.
And thrives like a fish in water.
– I don’t regret the move and in Switzerland you like rules and laws. Maybe not the image you get of Sweden when you read Aftonbladet right now, says the hockey legend.
22 degrees warm and Zug offers the best possible environment and setting in October.
Lake Zug sparkles and is as magically inviting as only an alpine lake can be.
It is here that Peter Forsberg has been living for the past five years and he is not the only celebrity to choose Zug. It is a tax haven and invites you to a simple, secure and well-maintained life.
Why then did it become Zug for the hockey icon?
– It started with Martin Nordin from Fjällräven tipping me off about Zug. Then I took part in a charity golf in Switzerland with Michael Phelps and again got tips about Zug and then we packed up the things. I haven’t regretted it – it’s close to everything, nice mountains and good hockey, says Peter Forsberg.
“Biggest difference from Sweden”
Peter is casually dressed and preparing to go with the children to Spain during the autumn holidays. Swimming, sun, play and football training are on the schedule in Marbella.
– There are big differences from Sweden. Better weather and if you like laws and rules, it’s a good place to live. At first I thought it was a bit rough with all the rules. You don’t drive too fast and I’ve actually stopped doing it. There are cameras everywhere. You can even go to jail if you drive too much too fast and when you read Aftonbladet, what is happening in Sweden with all the shootings is not so positive. Here my children can go to school in a safe environment. I am happy that I live in Switzerland and you stay within what you are allowed to do simply.
He is still a businessman with a two-faced life because the family situation looks different after the separation with his former partner Nicole Nordin.
When he is in Zug, it is a lot about logistics with the children Lennox, Lily and Diego. When he is child-free, he travels quite a bit and right now a trip to Denver and Toronto is planned, where he will participate in a charity match and witness when Henrik Lundqvist is elected to the Hockey hall of fame together with Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Pierre Turgeon , Caroline Ouellette, Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix.
– When I am in Switzerland, there is a lot with and around the children, they have both hockey and soccer training and school. I think it’s funny that they play hockey. We’ll see which sport they choose in the end. Of course I want them to keep playing hockey for a while longer. But there are also good conditions for football with both nice grass pitches and artificial grass here in Zug, so there will probably be competition for interest, says “Foppa”.
full screen Peter Forsberg. Photo: Jimmy Wixstrom
“Trying to talk to the kids”
During his active career, Forsberg had dusters with the referees on the ice and opinions on how they did their job. Now he is a sports dad and has become wiser and smarter over the years.
– I am far from the judges and try to talk to the kids about how to behave towards them. I was exemplary myself with the referee contact and want to teach it…
The family takes their time for the hockey legend. And he himself thinks that he has a little too much to do right now. He has turned 50 and is thinking about unwinding.
fullscreen Beautiful environments in Switzerland. Photo: Jimmy Wixstrom
Opens up to a new career
– I do a little business, watch hockey and have an incredibly mixed life, sometimes a little too much to do. I’ve turned 50, maybe I should unwind and just do things that are fun with people I enjoy being with.
– I would like to play more golf. I have a handicap of 9 at the moment and think it has gone better now at the end. Maybe I want to compete when the kids are a little older, but I’m not that good. You hardly have time to play when I have the children, you get stressed on the court then. I don’t have time to play much golf in Zug, it’s mostly in Sweden.
He is also an ambassador for Zug’s hockey academy, something he is passionate about. He wants to help talents understand the importance of training and not to throw away a career.
– I am a springboard for talent in Zug, I like that. You don’t slip on a banana peel and that’s how you become a good player. You have to train hard and invest in what is needed when you are young. But you might not understand that when you’re young.
“Shit bad”
Two seasons ago he also made a comeback as a hockey player in an organized league, the senior league in Switzerland. He plays with Zug’s veterans and aims to make his season debut when his body is ready. Last season there were five games and 13 points (5+8) and the season before that four games and 20 points (4+16).
In classic Forsberg fashion, he thinks he’s bad ass.
– I have gone on ice and had a lunchtime hockey game, but my feet were miserable. It doesn’t go fast anymore, I have to train a little more physically, it seems. I will play this winter too and I hope that Espen Knutsen can join. He moved here last spring and is a good player with good hockey sense.
He is not having a 50-year-old crisis and from the outside he is in good spirits. He can thank running and walking along the water for that.
– I have a four kilometer loop that I try to get around from time to time. It’s a loop with training stations where you do chins and so on mixed with running. I’m a few kilos too much now and will try to lose a little. I go down sometimes, but then you go up over triple digits again. I will try to take that seriously, says Forsberg and continues:
– I’m bad at the gym, it’s not for me. Then it is easier to walk or run. I try to walk a lot, there are nice beaches in Zug.
The harbor restaurant where we conduct the interview is starting to fill up with people and diners. But it is calm and quiet for the 50-year-old. He lives a clearly more anonymous life in Switzerland compared to Sweden and in the NHL cities.
– They recognize the name, but maybe not in a photo. Zug is a hockey town and knows its hockey, but it’s great that you can be a little anonymous. They know hockey and Tre Kronor have met Switzerland many times. But it’s been a good many years since I was active now, concludes Forsberg.
2023-10-21 08:31:22
#Sweden #shootings #Foppa #life
