A ‘Swede’ Connection: Why Pittsburgh has become a premier destination for Swedish players

Kelsey Surmacz
Kelsey Surmacz
A ‘Swede’ Connection: Why Pittsburgh has become a premier destination for Swedish players
Credit: Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson (courtesy Pittsburgh Penguins)

This article was written by Kelsey Surmacz, who is part of the Professional Hockey Writers Association x To Hockey With Love Mentorship Program. This program pairs aspiring writers with established members of the association across North America to create opportunities for marginalized people that do not traditionally get published on larger platforms covering hockey. 

To Hockey With Love is a weekly newsletter covering a range of topics in hockey – from the scandals of the week to providing a critical analysis of the sport. 

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When Rickard Rakell learned he was headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the final moments of the trade deadline on March 21, 2022, he was getting ready for a home matchup against the Nashville Predators. Having spent his entire career up to that point with the Anaheim Ducks, heading to a new city with a new team on the East Coast was exciting, but also daunting.

One of the very first people Rakell contacted was Marcus Pettersson, a good friend and former teammate in Anaheim.

“I remember we were on the road, and ‘Raks’ and his wife called on Facetime,” Pettersson said. “My wife was on the call too, and we were all just super excited.”

Rakell and Pettersson’s friendship extends back to that time spent as teammates in Anaheim, and perhaps its defining characteristic is that they are both Swedes. Along with their newest Swedish teammate, Erik Karlsson, who was brought to Pittsburgh in a blockbuster trade with the San Jose Sharks this past August, they agree that the extensive history of Swedes within the Penguins’ organization — and the city itself — has helped Pittsburgh become a comfortable destination for Swedish players, even if it isn’t considered a cultural Swedish hotbed.

“Just to have the opportunity to get into this organization with the success they’ve had is just awesome,” Pettersson said. “The hockey world is small, no matter if you’re a Swede or if you’re a Canadian. You always play with somebody who’s played with somebody, so that makes it fun.”

A good fit

The Penguins have welcomed several prominent Swedes in recent NHL seasons. Karlsson has been discussed as a potential future Hall of Fame inductee while Carl Hagelin played a significant role in helping the franchise win back-to-back Stanley Cups. But there’s also Patric Hornqvist, who helped restore a championship culture in a dressing room ruled by icons Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

It was Hornqvist, whose grit and hardlined, north-south play helped the Penguins win those back-to-back championships, who scored the Stanley Cup game-winning goal in 2017. His imprint on the Penguins remains — so much that they’re part of a career celebration in early December that the Florida Panthers, Hornqvist’s final team, is staging in his honor.

Karlsson, in fact, mentioned Hornqvist after his introductory news conference in Pittsburgh. He said Hornqvist’s love for the Penguins and Pittsburgh appealed to him when making a decision on a team to which he’d approve a trade.

“Swedes come here and win, right?” Karlsson joked. “That’s what [Hornqvist] did.”

The Penguins haven’t won a playoff series since Hornqvist was traded in September 2020. With Pettersson in the mix, maybe first-year Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas was looking to tap into a familiar formula for success?

Or perhaps he just really liked the idea of adding a three-time Norris winner to his team’s blueline. Whatever the motivation, Karlsson had reason to feel as though Pittsburgh would be a good fit.

The NHL features 82 active Swedish players. Over the course of the organization’s 56-year history, the Penguins have rostered 27, with 12 of them rostered during the Crosby era.

Although that’s not a relatively large figure to boast, Pittsburgh — and the Penguins — continues to be a preferred destination for international players, and recently, for those from Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. The Penguins’ prolonged track record of success has been a huge sell for these players coming in and deciding to stick around over the years. 

The city of Pittsburgh may play its own part in the equation, too. 

Swedes in the wild

Pittsburgh is well-known for its strong cultural ties, with Italian, Polish, Irish, German and many other heritages harboring strong influences across Western Pennsylvania. If you squint, you may just see some Scandinavian influence.

Even though this influence may be small by sheer number — 0.6 percent of Pittsburgh’s ethnic demographic, with identifiable groups and organizations few and far between — it’s becoming a more prominent part of the city’s overall ethnic scene. Between Midsommar celebrations, the upcoming tradition of St. Lucia, and the availability of a Swedish language course taught by Gunnel Bergstrom at the University of Pittsburgh, Swedish culture is experiencing a growth in the area. 

Vivian R. Gerritsen, newsletter editor for the Scandinavian Society of Western Pennsylvania and first-generation Swedish immigrant, attests to this growth.

“In recent years, I’ve found myself more likely to come across Swedes ‘in the wild’,” she said. “There are more Swedish families showing up in the area, more Swedish brands spotted, more food items available. And it offers more opportunities for us, especially as our society grows, to gather to speak the language and celebrate Swedish and Scandinavian culture together.”

One such “food item” — or restaurant, in this case — is Fet-Fisk!, a pop-up establishment that aims to open its latest location in Bloomfield (Pittsburgh’s version of “Little Italy”) by the end of 2023. The Swedish hot spot is one of many good eats within the city, which, according to Pettersson, is one of the things that stands out about Pittsburgh.

“I haven’t been to Fet-Fisk! yet,” Pettersson said. “I remember talking to some of the guys about it last year. I think the food scene [in Pittsburgh] is one thing that kind of – well, it didn’t shock me, but surprised me how good it is.”

A cultural camaraderie 

Pettersson is approaching his fifth anniversary with the Penguins. Currently one of their longest-tenured players, he still remembers finding out he was headed to Pittsburgh — and recalls one fellow Swede who reached out.

“I remember when I got the call that I was traded here, it was, at first, a bit of a shock,” Petterson said. “Hornqvist reached out early. I didn’t know him or anything at the time, but he reached out and said, ‘Welcome.’ ”

Pettersson returned the favor with Rakell before extending a welcome to his eventual defense partner, Karlsson. Although Karlsson admits that he “defaults to English” most of the time when speaking nowadays, having that Swedish connection has been a welcome change of pace.

“It’s been awhile since I had a Swedish [defense] partner, and even a couple of Swedes on the same team,” Karlsson said. “I don’t speak too much Swedish anymore, so it’s nice to be able to do it at the rink every once in a while.”

The on-ice connections may be a bonus for these Swedish players, but their camaraderie has extended off the ice as well. Rakell and Pettersson reside in the same town outside Stockholm during the offseason and have shared some Swedish traditions between their growing families. That includes an appearance by Pettersson as Santa Claus at the Rakell household in Pittsburgh last Christmas Eve.

“He was really good,” Rakell told DK Pittsburgh Sports last season. “He had the whole thing, he was kitted out and played the part.”

Although his time in Pittsburgh has helped Pettersson make connections to his own culture, he holds an appreciation for the city’s cultural scene as a whole. Pettersson referenced how the “industrial” feel of the city makes it feel familiar and welcoming. 

“I love going into Lawrenceville and the [Strip District]” he said. “They kind of catch the way the city looks with the industry part of it, and you find real gems inside of buildings that look kind of industrial… Stuff like that, I think, is awesome.” 

Karlsson, who has only been with the Penguins for a few months, hasn’t had time to check out the city’s cultural scene between the demands of his young family and rigors of the season. He didn’t shy away from expressing his desire to experience more of what Pittsburgh has to offer.

“It’s a beautiful scene,” he said. “Hopefully, moving forward, I’m here for quite a few years. So I hope that I get a chance to explore the greater Pittsburgh area a little bit more.”

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