Nino Niederreiter was transferred from Nashville to Winnipeg on Sunday. Saying goodbye is difficult for him. In the video interview, the 30-year-old from Graubünden talks regarding the hectic hours.
Nino Niederreiter is sitting on the bus in Phoenix when the bad news reaches him that he has been transferred from his team, the Nashville Predators, to the Winnipeg Jets in Canada. He has nothing to say regarding it, his contract, which brings him 4 million dollars a year, is simply taken over.
“It was probably the most exciting week of my career,” Niederreiter looks back with some distance. Upon arrival, he met his Swiss teammate Roman Josi in his hotel room. “We were both shocked, both had to cry a little. It was very emotional.” It had always been his dream to play with Josi one day, following all it worked out for almost a season.
I have a phone all the time
At the moment, however, he hardly has time for sentimentality. “In the first few hours you’re actually on the phone non-stop,” he told a group of Swiss journalists via video from Winnipeg. Teammates, new teammates, management, the new coach, everyone would call. “Then you have to organize everything, look for flights. I realized I didn’t have my passport with me, so I knew I had to go back to Nashville first.”
In the evening, Niederreiter ate in Phoenix with his – now former – teammates Josi, Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm, at 6 a.m. he traveled to Nashville via Dallas, had five hours to vacate the apartment and traveled to Winnipeg in the evening . “It’s also a different country, which made it even more complicated,” says Niederreiter with a smile. He was already traded once during the season (from Minnesota to Carolina). “Since I don’t have a family yet, it’s a little easier.” Only in Minnesota did he buy an apartment when he signed a long contract.
In Winnipeg, the Grisons made an impression in the first game – despite losing in the penalty shoot-out to the Los Angeles Kings. He delivers a wild fist fight. To make an impression right away? Niederreiter smiles: “It can happen in any game. But maybe it’s good, I was able to show right away that I’m there for my teammates.”
Commitment to the Swiss national team
In terms of sport, the change doesn’t have to be bad for Niederreiter. Winnipeg has good prospects for the playoffs – in contrast to Nashville, which has therefore committed itself to a makeover. “It’s a good team, a lot is possible.” Perhaps to the chagrin of the national team, which might not count on the massive striker at the World Cup or only late. Because the Churer leaves no doubt that he would follow a World Cup squad if he were eliminated. “I’m always happy to go when I get the chance,” he says. “But for now, the focus is on the playoffs and getting the Stanley Cup here.”
The blues regarding moving from the country capital to the cold heart of Canada quickly evaporated. Niederreiter was also lucky: a week and a half ago it was unbelievably minus 44 degrees in Winnipeg, which is generally not very attractive. Now “only” minus 10.
SDA/SB10
