Forsberg remains quiet on future plans
Avalanche, Swedish team await word of decision
By Henrik Leman, Special to The Denver Post
TURKU, Finland - Peter Forsberg sits in a hotel lobby and all questions regarding his future - on whether it's with the Colorado Avalanche or his Swedish hometown team MoDo - are answered the same way: with a hard-to-interpret-smile and a comment: "We'll see."
In Denver, Avalanche fans are waiting for Forsberg to say, "Sure, I'll be back," and in Ornskoldsvik, up north in Sweden, the locals - who once put up the now famous sign: "Welcome to Foppaland" - are dreaming of a lost son returning home far earlier than anyone had dared dream.
One thing is for sure: Forsberg is going to play again for MoDo, the team he almost single-handedly led to a Swedish League title in 1994. But will MoDo be his last stop? Not necessarily.
"I never said I'd finish my career there," Forsberg said. "All I said was that I'd play a year with MoDo, and that's what I'm going to do."
That opens new doors in the Forsberg speculation saga. Maybe he'll sign for another year with the Avs, then go home to Sweden for the 2004-05 season, when labor conflict looms in the NHL as a new collective bargaining agreement is negotiated.
MoDo is planning to build a new arena. What better way to sell tickets? After boosting MoDo's finances, Forsberg could return for another spell in the NHL. It's hard to predict with a guy who walked away from the NHL a year and a half ago, giving up $10 million to heal an aching body and a distressed soul.
"You guys can speculate," Forsberg said, smiling again. "There's always a lot speculation when my contracts are up, and that's OK; I'm used to it. We (Forsberg and agent Don Baizley) haven't started talking with Colorado yet. It's something we agreed on, that we'd wait until the season was over."
The Avs' season is over. Forsberg's is not. He's in Finland trying to create some golden Swedish world championship memories, with the help of Toronto star Mats Sundin.
"Right now that's all I'm thinking about," Forsberg said.
That's not quite true. The taste of the Colorado's first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Wild lingers.
"Losing to Minnesota is still on my mind," Forsberg said. "I think we lacked some winner's instinct in the last games. Whenever I watch TV over here and they show something from the playoffs, I think about it. It bothers me. But that's how it is, winners and losers.
"There's not that much to moan about when you lose in a best-of-seven series."
If Forsberg is as good a fortune teller as he is a hockey player, the Avalanche will do better next season.
"We definitely have a team that can go all the way," Forsberg said, perhaps offering a hint about his plans.
Colorado goalie Patrick Roy has yet to announce whether he has decided to return or retire, an issue Forsberg has heard about.
"Of course, it'd be a terrible shame if we lost a guy who probably is the best goaltender of all times," Forsberg said. "But it doesn't effect my decision."
Maybe use of the word "we" is a good sign for Colorado, and a bad one for the Swedes. Or perhaps it just shows Forsberg's feelings toward the organization he has played for his entire NHL career and for the city of Denver.
"It's a great place to live in, I really like it," Forsberg said.
At 29, Forsberg never has played better, leading the NHL in scoring. But he remains shy about complimenting himself or ranking this as his best season.
"Well, yeah, if you just count what I did after Christmas," Forsberg said.
He already has won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's scoring leader and is a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP. Could a man considered by some experts to be the world's best player really call it quits from the NHL?
"We'll see," he said, "things will work out well, I'm not worried."
He smiled as he rose from the table and headed back to the hotel bed where he has spent much of his time in Finland, battling jet lag.
He smiled, and there was no way to interpret it.
Loose pucks - Forsberg had fluid drained Wednesday from an inflamed bursa sac in his left elbow, but he said he will play today when Sweden meets Russia. ... Forsberg scored Sweden's only goal Tuesday in a 3-1 loss to Canada.
Henrik Leman covers hockey for the Gothenburg Post in Sweden.
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