DETROIT -- Lucas Raymond looked like he was going to wrap around the net, but he hit the brakes and stuffed the puck inside the left post at 3:41 of the first period at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
The goal got the Detroit Red Wings off to a good start, and they went on to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4, just what they needed as they head to Raymond’s home country for the 2023 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal.
The Red Wings were scheduled to fly to Stockholm on Saturday night. They will play two Atlantic Division rivals at Avicii Arena: the Ottawa Senators on Thursday (2 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, NHLN, BSDET) and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday (2 p.m. ET; BSDET, NHLN, TSN4).
“I think it’s a great thing that the NHL is doing,” Raymond said. “I think it’s growing our game. Especially for a lot of Swedes, young kids, to be able to watch these games, I think it’s going to be exciting.”
The 21-year-old was one of those kids not long ago.
Growing up in Gothenburg, Sweden, Raymond didn’t watch a lot of NHL games on television because of the time difference. He remembers trying to stay awake to watch goalie Henrik Lundqvist, a fellow Gothenburg native, play for the New York Rangers against the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
“I couldn’t make it past the first 10 minutes,” Raymond said.
The only NHL game Raymond saw live was on a family trip to New York when he was 10, until the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils came to Gothenburg to play in the NHL Global Series on Oct. 6, 2018, when he was 16.
He got to see actual NHL players in his hometown -- on the street, in a restaurant -- including Oilers center Connor McDavid.
“I remember I was really excited about that,” Raymond said. “It was from distance, but it was a lot of fun.”
Then he got to see an actual NHL game in his hometown. He sat in the stands as a fan at Scandinavium Arena with his older brother, Hugo, and watched the Devils win 5-2.
“Hopefully, a lot of young kids in Stockholm will have the same experience,” Raymond said. “I think you read about the NHL, you see highlights, and then for kids to actually be able to experience an NHL game, I think that will be special.
“I’ll try to do as much as possible around as well to participate in different events. It’s only a week, but I think that week is going to do a lot for the NHL and also hockey in Sweden and Europe.”
Raymond is the only player on the Detroit roster who was born in Sweden.
But the Red Wings have had several prominent players from Sweden over the years, like Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen.
Even Borje Salming, who spent most of his career with Toronto, and Daniel Alfredsson, who spent most of his career with Ottawa, each finished his NHL career with a season in Detroit.
And this opportunity doesn’t come around often.
This will be only the second time the Red Wings have played overseas and the first time since they played in the same arena in Stockholm, then known as the Ericsson Globe, in the NHL Premiere Series on Oct. 2-3, 2009. They lost to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 and 5-3.
“I think the Red Wings are probably the most popular team in Sweden, just considering all the Swedes that have played here,” Raymond said. “I know a lot of them are going to be there as well, which is going to be really exciting.”
Raymond, the No. 4 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, is leading the next wave with multiple prospects from Sweden in Detroit’s system.
He had 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists) in 82 games in 2021-22 and finished fourth in the voting for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the NHL rookie of the year. After producing 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 74 games last season, he has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games this season.
“He’s been excellent,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to build. I think he’s a very special player, still developing and growing. I’m really excited for him for this experience.”
Lalonde was an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning when they played the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Global Series in Stockholm on Nov. 8-9, 2019. He remembers defenseman Victor Hedman, a native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, tearing up hearing his own national anthem played before NHL games in his home country. The Lightning defeated the Sabres 3-2 and 5-3.
“To me, that was like, ‘Wow, this is awesome,’” Lalonde said. “So I’m sure ‘Razor’ will go through some of those similar emotions.”
