It’s been one heck of a season for Rickard Rakell, who was added to Sweden’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off and is performing well for his country at the tournament.
There’s a lot of factors behind it, but it all boils down to a mindset. After Rakell’s first career four-point night earlier this season in Montreal, he said staying hungry has been the biggest driving force.
“A four-point night, something like that could make you take a step back and feel too good about yourself. Like, it has to be how it is after a loss. You just try to forget about it. Don’t let it affect you too much. Just take it one day at a time,” Rakell said.
“It sounds cliché, but I’ve been trying to do the same preparation before every game, kind of have the same feeling before starting every game. So yeah, I’m not going to change anything and do the same thing.”
What exactly is that routine? Well, we'll let the Penguins forward take you through it, in his own words:
“My daughter Daisy [she’s 2] wakes me up. I make her breakfast. Usually waffles, some fruit – she likes kiwis, blueberries, raspberries – and maybe I’ll make her a smoothie. She has a big appetite. Then we just hang out for a little bit before I head to the rink.
I usually listen to a podcast in the mornings. Come here and have breakfast here. Karl’s been bringing in some Swedish caviar. Toast, eggs and caviar. Have a coffee - in the United States, I put some oat milk in it... and orange juice. Then we’ll have our meeting, and if we’re not on the ice, we’ll play soccer tennis. [It used to be Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Marcus Pettersson on one team, before ‘Petey’ got traded to Vancouver. They faced off against Bryan Rust, Sidney Crosby and Michael Bunting.] After that, shower, maybe hot tub, cold tub.
Then grab lunch from the rink and eat it at home. I’ll have gluten-free pasta with chicken, alfredo sauce and pesto, parmesan cheese, broccoli, chili flakes. It’s good. I’ve had other people come up to me and ask me, what is that?
I nap, it varies how long it is. Usually an hour and a half. I’ll get up, take a shower, get dressed. I pick my suit in the moment. Sometimes, I’ll have Daisy pick out something for me. It’s always pink. So, if you see me have pink on, it’s Daisy. It’s always, ‘pink shirt, pink shirt, pink shirt!’
Then I have another coffee. Drive myself to the rink. Then I listen to music, it’s a playlist I made. [MC: I want to see this list. RR grins: It’s good.] Then I get to the rink. I’ll make a new stick, tape my stick. I’ve kept the same sticks, I just change the length on them. Tape is the same. I have another stick in there too. I do have a different curve I use, just for fun. [His former Ducks teammate Trevor Zegras once said he’s never seen a player use more sticks than Rakell, but times have changed.]
I go and get some massage. Not Swedish. Hot stone... just kidding. I get some treatment. Then we’ll have another meeting. I do my warmup. Same warmup. It’s a lot of jumping. A lot of jumping.
Then it’s game time. I play my game. I go home, listen to a podcast in the car ride home, try to get settled down.
On the road, I don’t wake up as early because everything’s pushed back. Morning skate is at 11:30 instead of 10:30. So, I try to take advantage of that.
Wake up, get breakfast... on the road I’m not that specific, it’s day to day, whatever looks good at that particular hotel.
Then just get to the rink, either go on the ice or play soccer tennis. Go back to the hotel, have lunch. Call home. Go to sleep, wake up, take a shower, listen to some music in the shower... it’s one song. It’s called Don't Stop Dancing, with France Joli. It’s an 80s song. It’s good, because it’s like eight minutes long.
Have a little snack, get on the bus, and get to the game.”
