No place like home for Lindberg

Chris Lindberg’s story is the Canadian dream with a European twist.
The 35-year-old Fort Frances native and former NHL player with the Calgary Flames and Quebec Nordiques has spent most of the last nine seasons making his hockey mark in Germany and Switzerland.
But while he has enjoyed his European experience greatly, Lindberg sees a return to the land of the maple leaf in the not-too-distant future.
“I’m looking at playing one more season and then calling it quits,” said Lindberg, who leads HC Ajoie of the Swiss ‘B’ League in scoring with 45 points in 30 games through last week.
“Of course, I’ve been saying that since I was 30.
“It’s the little things I miss in Canada, like going down to Tim Hortons or going to the local gas station to get the newspaper,” he remarked. “But that’s my job. I chose to play in Europe.”
Swiss culture—hockey-related and otherwise—has offered some interesting moments for Lindberg.
“Our home arena was shut down for a month this season due to an ammonia leak,” he recalled. “They knew the leak was there for years, but just kept testing it. Of course, it got worse and worse.
“Golfing [one of Lindberg’s hobbies] is tough to do around here, too,” he added. “There’s no courses or even driving ranges closer than a 30-40-minute drive.
“And it’s still a rich man’s sport over here, with what they charge to play because the price of the land the courses are on is so high.”
Lindberg, who has two Swiss Elite League and one Swiss ‘B’ League titles to his credit, makes his summer home in Calgary these days, where he met his wife, Anita, during his first stint with the Canadian national team in 1990.
With three-year-old daughter Olivia nearing school age, he wants to provide a stable footing for the beginning of her education.
“Switzerland is a great environment to raise a family,” Lindberg said. “But it’s tough for Olivia being around other kids when she’s still trying to learn their language.
“I want her to start school back home.”
A member of Team Canada that won the silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, Lindberg has had no shortage of world travelling thanks to his hockey career.
After his NHL career finished in 1994, he headed to Germany to play four seasons with the Krefeld Penguins of the German Elite Hockey League.
From there, it was on to Switzerland, where he bounced around five different teams in the Swiss Elite and ‘B’ leagues while taking time away from his regular schedule to compete for Canada in international competitions.
Last year, shoulder surgery limited Lindberg to 10 games for the entire season. And with a new campaign approaching, he thought hard about his options.
“I decided it was a good idea to go down a league and start fresh,” he said. “With only two imports allowed on each ‘B’ League team, those coming in are looked at to do everything.
“I’m on the penalty-killing unit, I’m playing four-on-four, and I’m probably getting 30 minutes a night,” Lindberg remarked. “That’s what I needed to get back to playing like I can.”
This season has been especially memorable for Lindberg, who helped Canada to victory in both the Swiss Challenge tournament in November and a long-sought Spengler Cup title at the end of last month.
“We finished with three seconds and a third in my four years of trying,” said Lindberg, who added he would like to get into coaching at the junior level after his playing days are behind him.
“It was important to me that we won this time, especially since it might be the last time I’m on the team.”
HC Ajoie has a good chance at finishing fifth in the 10-team ‘B’ League this year with seven regular-season games left to play as of last week. The playoffs are set to begin Feb. 9—right about the time Lindberg’s wife is due to give birth to their second child.
“I’m going to be living on coffee,” joked Lindberg, who added in a serious tone, “The team understands what I’m going through, but you’re still expected to produce.”
Lindberg, whose parents, Gus and Madeleine, still live in Fort Frances, only has been back here twice in the past four years—the most recent time being in January of last year when he was recovering from his injury.
But recollections of his hockey-playing youth here will remain forever etched in his mind.
“With no Midget ‘AAA’ or even ‘AA’ at that time in the area, high school hockey was very big,” he reminisced. “I remember playing against International Falls as a really big thing, and going to the all-Ontarios was really exciting.
“It was a great experience.”