Quick change of plans leads to long-term stay for light-packing Mattias Janmark
When Mattias Janmark flew to North America this fall for an NHL prospects tournament and Dallas training camp, he only packed enough clothes for two weeks since he was fully expecting to return to his native Sweden to play another year with his European team, according to a recent Sports Illustrated profile. The plan was something Janmark and the Dallas Stars' brass had agreed on ahead of time.
But then Janmark had an impressive prospects tournament and a strong training camp, and his two-week stay quickly turned into a long-term spot on the Stars' NHL roster.
So the light-packer was forced to ask his mother to bring him the rest of his clothes when she flew over to visit. It was probably a request that neither Janmark nor his mother minded too much.
"I think [my family was] shocked, I think, I guess," Janmark told Sports Illustrated. "I don't know. I think they saw it coming too, for every week that went. When I was going here, I expected to go back in one or two weeks, then I stayed for another week, and another week. Yeah. We’re here now."
Here means a spot on a Dallas line with veterans Ales Hemsky and Cody Eakins. It means four points in six games (two goals, two assists), a pace which ties Janmark for fourth on the Stars in scoring. As a 22-year-old rookie and a newcomer to North American hockey, Janmark is bound to have to go through an adjustment period, but he has not hit that speed bump yet.
While life continues to go well on the ice, Janmark is making sure to find ways to adjust off the ice. According to the Sports Illustrated story, he moved in with defenseman and fellow Swede John Klingberg, and he put his fantasy hockey hobby aside in favor of improving at the real thing.
Janmark is an early success story for the high-flying Stars, and if his biggest concern is finding enough clothes for his longer-than-planned stay in the United States, then Dallas will continue to benefit greatly from him.
(h/t Sports Illustrated)
