-Henrik, welcome back to the show and thanks for coming on.
-Thank you. -It's so -- It's so great
to have you in person, because I knew this event's
coming up on Friday. I didn't know if I'd
be able to see you before it, but...
-Yeah. -They're retiring your jersey.
-It's amazing. It's a surreal feeling,
you know, to have --
Obviously, the moment itself's gonna be incredible.
-Yeah. -But also an opportunity
to bring all the people to Madison Square Garden,
people that meant so much to me throughout my journey --
friends, family, and most importantly,
all the fans that supported me throughout my career.
It's gonna be amazing. -Yeah.
How many people from Sweden are coming to the Garden on Friday?
-Yeah, I think, as we speak,
they're pulling up to the hotel right now.
It's like 50, 60, people.
We're gonna be around 100 people at the game, 130, maybe, even.
So... -Really? Friends, family.
-Friends, family, a lot of friends in New York
and around the States, they're flying in, so...
-Are you gonna have to say something or no?
-Yeah, I'm gonna say a few words.
-Yeah. -So we'll see how that goes.
-Do you get -- [ Laughter ]
Do you get emotional? -I do, at times.
-Yeah. -I think --
You know, when I played, I was super-intense.
-Yeah. -I was an intense person.
Preparation, playing the game.
But I -- I felt a lot. I played with a lot of emotions.
And now, when I'm done playing, you know,
I -- I still want to feel those emotions.
But it will be in different settings, obviously.
It won't be playing the game and feeling that pressure.
But I'm -- I'm still looking for other ways to -- to feel.
-But look at you. You look great.
I mean, you -- you left, I mean, on top.
Was it -- Was it tough for you to go?
-You know, it was not my choice. It was by health reasons.
You know. About a year ago, I had open-heart surgery.
And it changed everything. Obviously, I tried to come back.
The surgery itself went really well --
replaced a piece of my aorta and a piece of my valve.
-Wow. -And I tried to come back.
Unfortunately, I caught some inflammation around my heart,
and that just made it too difficult to come back and play.
But I was in such a good place. You know, I was so happy.
I was grateful for all the things I experienced,
especially here in New York for so many years.
So, you know, life's been great, but it has definitely
been an interesting year for me, no question.
-Yeah, I -- I follow you on Instagram.
And I saw this -- this post here.
You said, "Yeah. Soon." And I go, "Oh, wow."
And then, there's a picture of you right here.
-Yeah. -This is probably where
they're gonna raise the jerseys, right there.
-Exactly. So, first picture, you know,
looking at that arena, Madison Square Garden,
such a unique building, right?
There's so much --
so many different things going on in there.
Some days, we showed up to the game,
and they were putting up the boards
because the Knicks played before us.
I mean, the turnaround in there is crazy.
-Saw some of the best concerts of my life there.
-Oh, you see everything in there.
And it's such an exciting place to play.
So I feel very blessed, you know, to have that opportunity.
-Now your number's going up there.
Your name is forever. -Yeah, I know.
-You're one of 11 Rangers to be -- have their --
in the history of the Rangers to have your jersey retired.
-And that's the thing with the Rangers.
Original six team. They've always taken
a lot of pride in their history, and you feel that as a player.
You know, you come in as a young kid from Sweden at 23 years old,
and I see all these retired guys come by,
and they treat them so nicely.
And it means something to them, the history.
And now, to be part of that myself,
it's kind of a surreal feeling.
But I remember the -- the second photo there,
I walked up to check it out where my family's gonna sit
and where friends are gonna sit, and right there
was all the banners, and that --
that was a very special moment for me last week.
-That's gonna be wild when you're out on the ice there.
I just -- I -- I know, also,
that you're doing commentating now for MSG.
And my question to you is -- is it tough for you to be
not one-sided when the Rangers are playing someone...
[ Laughter ]
...when you're doing an interview?
Dude, I've heard you caught a slip a couple times.
-Yeah. -And be like, "No, no.
We're gonna come back, and we're gonna --
I go, "You mean, the Rangers can come back and win."
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, it's funny.
You know, I think this was the first or second time
I was there. I asked the guys at the set,
"Do we say 'we,' or do we say 'the Rangers'?"
Like, "No, no, we say 'the Rangers.'
Even though we're Rangers channel, we can't say "we."
Like, "Got it." -Yeah.
-Five times I said "we." [ Laughter ]
-I was like, "I've been doing it for 15 years."
-You're a Ranger. Yeah, yeah.
-15 years, I've said "we," you know?
-Well, we love you. New York loves you.
Hockey loves you. Enjoy every second of it.
It couldn't happen to a better guy.
And thanks for always being a friend to the show.
You're always welcome back.
-Thank you so much. -Pleasure.
Henrik Lundqvist, everybody!