What's Nyquist like off the ice, though? BlueJackets.com caught up with Nyquist for five questions about his life away from the rink.
1. What have you found out about Columbus and the Blue Jackets fanbase since you moved here?
"Great fans, clean city, good restaurants. Those three things. It's been great. We like it here."
It seems like the kind of city that people don't necessarily know a ton about worldwide or in the hockey world, but has it been an easy transition for you to move here?
"Yeah. I compare it a lot to Detroit. Detroit is a little bigger city and it's gone through a bigger change. Downtown here is probably a little bit smaller, but the areas around it, there's great schools and great places to live. The climate is the same, so it's been a pretty easy transition."
2. You're from Sweden but played college hockey at Maine. Not a lot of guys from Europe go that route, so how did you end up there?
"Just the opportunity to do both -- go to school and play hockey and develop at a high level. I think the chances of you making it to the NHL are pretty slim. In Sweden, you have to turn pro or you have to go to school; you can't do both at the same time. I think college sports in general is a great opportunity. I loved my years at Maine. Those are some of the best years of my life. I had a blast up there."
From 2009-11, you had 112 points your last two seasons at Maine, while Cam Atkinson had 61 goals those two years playing at Boston College. Do you remember playing against Cam in those old Hockey East battles?
"I do, I do. He was an amazing college player as well. We had some battles. They usually got the better of us, unfortunately, so I don't really want to talk to him about it. They probably won most of them. We had a few wins against them, but they usually won most of them."
3. Are there any players that you looked up to or modeled your game after growing up?
"Peter Forsberg was the one guy for me. He was so good when I grew up. I remember playing street hockey and everyone wanted to be Peter Forsberg. He's a big legend back home. I think he's one of the greatest players honestly to play. Unfortunately he had a lot of injuries in his career, but he was a big guy that I looked up to."
Did you try his famous postage stamp goal a lot when you were a kid?
"I did! It didn't work out too many times."
4. I ask every guy this -- you're a professional athlete. We know you're good at hockey, and you're noted for being a scratch golfer, but is there a sport you're just not good at?
"I'm not a great swimmer. I'm a bad swimmer, yeah. I'm not a fast swimmer. I can stay on the surface, but I wouldn't win a race, that's for sure."
5. Rumor has it you're one of the most fashionable guys on the team. Is that a mantle you're proud of?
"Really? Yeah, I mean I probably do care about what I put on in the morning. That's nice of the guys that they said that."
