after undergoing hand surgery<\/a>, he is fully embracing that role on the trip. The team flies overseas tonight (Monday) and will play games on Friday and Sunday before returning to Pittsburgh, where they will have a few days to re-acclimate before their next matchup.<\/p>\n\u201cI’m actually feeling pretty good about it,\u201d Rakell said with a smile. \u201cIt’s definitely out of my comfort zone, but at least I get to come on the trip. And I said I’ll do anything to come on the trip, so I just gotta own up to it. I just gotta be taking some of the load off (director of team operations Jason Seidling)\u2019s shoulders and make sure I’m available 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obviously, Rakell would have loved the chance to play in front of family, friends and different coaches he had growing up that haven\u2019t had the chance to see him in an NHL game – especially his grandma Rakell, who celebrated her 90th birthday in the spring. While missing out on that opportunity is disappointing, Rakell is still looking forward to being back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m just excited to see a game in that environment, knowing all the memories that I have growing up going to Aviici Arena to watch bigger sports events or anything like that,\u201d Rakell said. \u201cThen just to see what kind of support the Penguins get in Sweden \u2013 I\u2019m just excited for all those things.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd even though I’m not playing, just have a small part of still getting to invite some friends and family to the game, and just being around, it’s gonna be a lot of fun for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rakell was born and raised in the town of Sollentuna, located approximately 15 minutes from Stockholm. Back then, he never went into the city because it was a hassle to get there. But now, Rickard and his wife Emmeli have an apartment downtown, where they spend about a month each summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that obviously, there’s so many options for food. And then, just not having to take your car everywhere,\u201d Rakell said. \u201cJust walking around and go grocery shopping, like, every day, but you don’t have to grocery shop for the whole week. Just spontaneous things like that. Go to the parks, a bunch of restaurants, just for lunch or anything like that. It’s kind of nice when you don’t have to get in your car or sit in traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n
For that reason, Erik Karlsson said good walking shoes are a must. \u201cYou walk everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When Rickard and Emmeli first bought their property, they started a list of restaurants they wanted to go to.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it has expanded throughout the years,\u201d Rickard said with a smile. \u201cBut it’s a good list. Every time we go there, we go through the list to see what should we try this time. That\u2019s what I like, they\u2019re all very local. If you want, you can go to a new one every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
They were nice enough to share that list with Pittsburgh\u2019s traveling party, and Rickard narrowed it down even further.<\/p>\n
Caf\u00e9 Pom and Flora, Kale and Crave and Mahalo are some go-to breakfast and lunch spots.<\/p>\n
Rakell then got excited about \u00d6stermalms Korvspecialist, a gourmet hot dog stand. \u201cSweden know hot dogs,\u201d he said with a grin. \u201cIt\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his favorite spot for fika \u2013 the Swedish tradition of enjoying coffee and a treat while talking about life \u2013 T\u00f6ssebageriet is close to their place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get like, a cardamom bun. Kind of similar to a cinnamon bun,\u201d Rakell said. \u201cIf you go there and they have small samples of a princess cake, get it. It\u2019s like, vanilla custard with cream and marzipan. I always get that for birthdays.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00d6stermalms Saluhall, an iconic food hall, is a must. So is ordering Swedish kebab pizza or Lojromspizza (a caviar pizza). Also, getting tunnbr\u00f6dsrulle. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a wrap with mashed potatoes, lettuce, normal things… then also shrimp salad,\u201d Rakell said. \u201cIt’s called Skagenr\u00f6ra. It\u2019s my favorite. It doesn’t sound good when you describe it, but it’s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidney Crosby agrees. He\u2019s been to Sweden on a couple of occasions, and said toast Skagen is his favorite Swedish culinary specialty. \u201cIt\u2019s mini shrimp with mayonnaise, and it’s a spread. That stuff is unbelievable. It\u2019s so good. So, there’ll be that; smoked salmon; smoked fish… and then, I don’t know what else is on the culinary list. Swedish meatballs, I\u2019d have to think. That\u2019s a lock.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sure is, according to Karlsson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s nice to be able to show your teammates your home country, and maybe put a picture to some of the things you talk about a lot, and they’re asking you about. Like what actual meatballs and potatoes are,\u201d he said. \u201cI know we get it over here sometimes, and we call it that, but it’s a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were also recommended activities \u2013 like going to the Vasa Museum, which Crosby has done \u2013 and other tips to help make the experience great for everyone attending.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love coming back every summer and spending time there,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be nice to be able to go there during a different season of the year that you normally don\u2019t get to spend there.\u201d<\/p>\n
SWEDEN IN NOVEMBER TIPS FROM THE PENGUINS<\/p>\n
Days are short (sunrise8 AM, sunset3 PM) \u2014 make the most of daylight hours for walks and sightseeing.
\nDress in layers; bring gloves, and a scarf
\nBring good walking shoes. You walk everywhere.
\nEnjoy cozy ‘fika’ breaks in Stockholm\u2019s many caf\u00e9s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the 2025 Global Series between the Penguins and Predators in Sweden was announced back in the spring,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-276240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}