A report just surfaced on the interwebs helping bring transparency to Mikael Wikstrand’s insistence on playing hockey for his hometown Färjestad BK. It turns out his brother has been diagnosed with leukemia.
In an interview with Värmlands Folkblad‘s Johan Ekberg, Wikstrand broke his one-month silence and explained that because his brother is dealing with his illness, he wants to spend as much time as possible with his family during this difficult time.
Considering the circumstances, it’s hard to believe that the communication breakdown unraveled to the point that led Wikstrand to call management from the Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport and say that he was going home, but he’s just 21 years of age and dealing with what has to be a traumatic experience for him and his family, it’s completely understandable.
Wikstrand explained his decision to keep the details from the organization by apologizing for his private disposition.
“I don’t know. It was a bad decision. I’m really sorry about that. I should have brought it up in a more professional way and told them why I wanted to play back home. But I’m a guy who likes to keep things to myself, keep them in the family. Not even my agent knew.”
Rumours of his brother being ill did circulate on the internet for a period of time and Wikstrand even defended his decision via Twitter the day after Bryan Murray held court with the media and addressed Wikstrand’s departure.
The important thing is that Wikstrand’s story helps refute the narrative that he simply did not want to spend time in the Senators’ minor league system. He had a legitimate reason and from his comments within the VF article, it sounds like he learned from the experience.
I know I did.
Just yesterday, I cracked a joke on Twitter after the Senators’ released their latest prospect report bemoaning the exclusion of Wikstrand’s beer league stats — a barb offhandedly referencing Bryan Murray’s comments regarding the organization’s decision to suspend Wikstrand and bar him from competing with another professional hockey club.
“I have all the options. He just can’t play hockey. Of course (I’m officially suspending him). Of course. I told him that he could go back and be a grocery clerk, he could play in the beer leagues, but he could not play hockey in any shape or form if he doesn’t play for the Ottawa organization and that’s the way it will be.”
In hindsight, it was dumb and because of it, I’d like to extend an apology to Wikstrand and to his friends and family. I’m sorry.
I’m hoping that the Senators organization will also learn from the situation and shows some remorse.
When asked in a recent scrum whether there was any truth to the rumour that Wikstrand’s brother was ill, Murray had the following to say one week ago:
“Well, supposedly his brother is sick and he’d like to be closer to home, but I think the team he hopes to play for is three hours away. We’re about eight hours away on an airplane, so I don’t think there’s that big of a difference in the impact that he might have. But I do understand if there’s an illness. I understand that part of it. The point being that he made a commitment to play here. We signed him to a contract and paid him accordingly to our obligations and we’re asking him to honour that contract at this point in time.”
From digs about only being able to bag groceries and play in the beer leagues to harboring a grudge because Wikstrand understandably reneged on his commitment to playing in North America, I hope the organization ponies up an apology and allows him to remain in Sweden. This goes beyond contracts and player development, it’s a man’s life in the balance and a brother’s commitment to support him. Respect that.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
