My NHL idol: Blackhawks' Kruger on Peter Forsberg
During the NHL playoffs, we're asking some Blackhawks to tell us which player they grew up idolizing. We'll share their story on each game day.
Marcus Kruger loved to watch fellow Swede Peter Forsberg growing up. As for playing against him?
Well, that's another story all together.
Kruger, the Blackhawks' 25-year-old penalty-killing ace, said he and his friends would tape games from the Colorado Avalanche's 2001 Stanley Cup Final series with New Jersey and watch well after they were finished because of the time difference.
Kruger loved Forsberg's competitiveness and the fact he was a complete player. But then Kruger found himself facing Forsberg in the Swedish league in 2009-10 when Kruger was a 19-year-old kid.
"It was definitely nicer to watch him on TV than to play against him," said a chuckling Kruger. "He's just one of those guys that's always competitive. It doesn't matter what level he's playing at.
"You can really see the fire, even if he wasn't playing in the NHL anymore. He was trying to win as much as if he was playing in the Stanley Cup Final."
Forsberg, who had 885 points in 708 games, played in the NHL from 1994-2011 for Quebec/Colorado, Philadelphia and Nashville.