There's a Swedish proverb that reads "Borta bra men hemma bäst," and translates to this:
Away is good, but home is best.
Fortunately, Swedish countrymen Rickard Rakell and Marcus Pettersson have found a way to bring parts of home to Pittsburgh while living together just outside of the city, which they've been exploring whenever the weather allows.
Living with Fellow Swede Pettersson has Helped Rakell Feel at Home
"Petey has been teaching me a lot about Pittsburgh," Rakell said. "He has taken me all around the city, shown me around… we even went to Sewickley one day."
"It's been good to have him around," Pettersson said during a recent Swedish 'fika' the two had, which is a custom of enjoying coffee and a treat - like a cinnamon roll or cookies - while talking about life. "We have a lot of fun."
Rakell spent all of half a day in a hotel room before Pettersson invited him to stay.
After being traded from the Ducks to the Penguins at the deadline, Rakell got on a red-eye flight that landed on the morning of March 22, ahead of his debut against Columbus. He napped at the hotel before the game, and after Pittsburgh's 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets, the Penguins went straight to the airport for a road trip to Buffalo and New York.
Rakell went home with Pettersson after the team got back, and has been there ever since.
"I was by myself when Ricky got traded, my girlfriend was back home in Sweden at the time," Pettersson said. "So I just told him, like, hey, come live with me. We got an extra room. He just said okay, and he came right away."
The fellow countrymen have been close ever since the first time they were teammates, back in Anaheim. Both players were drafted by the Ducks, with Rakell, 28, getting taken in the first round back in 2011 and Pettersson, 25, going in the second round three years later.
Rakell had already played three full seasons and parts of two more when Pettersson started playing games in the NHL during the 2017-18 campaign, and they quickly became friends. So did their significant others, as Pettersson's girlfriend Beatrice and Rakell's girlfriend (now wife) Emmeli also bonded.
And even though Marcus' time in Anaheim wasn't long, as he was traded to Pittsburgh midway through the next season, the foursome remained close. Because while Rickard is from a suburb of Stockholm called Sollentuna, which is in the south of Sweden, Emmeli, Marcus and Beatrice are all from Skelleftea, which is in the north. So after the Rakells moved up there at the end of 2019, the group started hanging out even more.
"He lives like half an hour down the road from me," Pettersson said.
"We're really close to each other, and we're on the same schedule," Rakell said. "We work out together. We golf together or we play paddle tennis together, which is quicker. Instead of four hours, it's two hours. Try to get it in between the workout and going on the ice."
Pettersson actually used their workouts as the way to get Rakell to his surprise bachelor party back in Stockholm this past June.
"I was the one that abducted him or whatever, because we were the only ones up north," Pettersson recalled with a laugh.
"I don't trust you anymore!" Rakell joked.
"Yeah, I tricked him," Pettersson chuckled. "We were supposed to have a fitness testing with our trainer back home, then we drove to the airport. So it wasn't that that big of a surprise. But when we drove the wrong way, you were kind of nervous, and you knew something was going on."
"Then I look back and I see golf clubs, so I knew something was up," Rakell said.
They ended up having a memorable weekend with Rakell's closest family members and friends, including his brother Robin and NHL players Hampus Lindholm and Oscar Klefbom. They had a day of folkracing, which is essentially a unique Nordic form of rallycross racing on a dirt track using old Volvos.
Instagram from @rickardrakell: Thank you boys for these days, always a good time🍻
"I thought I was gonna be much better than I was, because I would say I'm a good go-kart driver," Rakell said. "But I was last. The cars are drifting a lot, so they're tough to drive. You have to have to pay a lot of attention. Otherwise, you'd go off the track."
That's actually what happened to Rakell at one point, who had to be pulled back on by a tractor. Pettersson fared much better than the groom, making it to the finals. Their trip also included a day on the golf course - where Rakell had to dress in a German Oktoberfest-themed outfit - and a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant.
The outfit Rakell's buddies picked for the meal was a doozy - a fuchsia suit with zebra accents inspired by the bassist from the Swedish children's rock band called Electric Banana Band. The intent was to try and embarrass him a bit, but somehow, he managed to pull it off.
"I think I looked pretty good in it. I think they expected much worse," laughed Rakell, who even ended up getting a picture with Swedish DJ Alesso in the getup.
All of these experiences have continued to solidify an already great relationship, so it's no surprise that they immediately FaceTimed when the news broke that Rickard was coming to Pittsburgh. And they've gotten along fantastic as roommates, with designated spots on the couch where they lay around and watch either Marvel movies or Swedish reality shows.
There's one similar to Survivor that they both like, and Rakell also enjoys watching Swedish cooking shows. He started cooking for him and Pettersson when he first moved in, and now that Beatrice is back in Pittsburgh, she and Rickard alternate making meals.
"I gotta give them something back, because I'm invading their private space," Rakell said with a laugh. "I'm trying to help out with the dishes sometimes too, and trying not to be too messy."
"He's actually good," Pettersson said. "I'm messier than him. So he's done a good job so far."
When it's Rakell's turn to cook, he tries to make dishes they eat back home in Sweden, like sausage stroganoff. But he also has been experimenting with different pastas, like one with saffron that Marcus really liked.
"And actually, the other day, I was making a really, really, really good Bolognese," Rakell said. "Long cook, for a few hours. It turned out really well."
It's not easy for Rakell to be away from not only home, but also Emmeli, who is unable to fly as she is pregnant with their first child, a baby girl, due in June. But being in such a comfortable situation certainly helps, as does the fact that Rakell will be playing in the postseason for the first time since 2018, when the Ducks were eliminated in the first round.
"I mean, I'm so excited," Rakell said. "I think everything is building up to this. And you can sense everyone around the locker room, like in the team, the organization… everyone is getting excited about this time of the year. And yeah, it's gonna be fun to see how far we can go. I think we have a good team here. And everyone knows anything can happen in the playoffs. So I can't wait."
