Jonas Frogren is not the usual wide-eyed, peach-fuzzed rookie rube.
He just sounds like it sometimes. And, it's difficult to blame him.
The 28-year-old defenceman is a professional, wizened and bloodied by a decade in the Swedish Elite League. He was one of Sweden's best last year at the world championship. He pals around with former Maple Leaf Jonas Hoglund and Red Wings playoff hero Johan Franzen. Let's just say that, when it comes to the global ice warriors, he not only knows where some of the skeletons are, he has actually known and played with a few of them personally.
But yesterday, less than 24 hours after making his regular season NHL debut, he had a grin on his kisser like a kid who'd just discovered he was getting the triple scoop with a cherry on top.
"I wasn't scared or even nervous. But I was excited, super-pumped," he said of watching the Red Wings raise their Stanley Cup banner on Thursday, then going out to beat them, 3-2.
"This is going to be so fun, and it was. I could feel it on my skin -- sorry for my English -- yes, that's it, goosebumps. That was unreal. It was like I was watching TV or something. I know Andreas Lilja and Zetter (Henrik Zetterberg), but it was hard to believe I was actually there, that I'm in the NHL."
These are heady times for Frogren, who a couple winters ago had pretty much set aside thoughts of the NHL. He was comfortable in Sweden playing with Farjestads. He had been selected as the 206th pick in the NHL draft by Calgary in 1998 but felt he was too young to leave home.
"After that, nobody ever asked again," Frogren said.
But he aged well. At the world championship last spring, he caught the eye of the Leafs. Hoglund convinced him he would enjoy playing in Toronto. Suddenly, there were second thoughts on both sides of the ocean.
"I believed I could do it. I played on the same team in Sweden for 10 years, but the last few years I started to play more aggressively. Maybe I'm a late-bloomer," he said of becoming the lowest drafted player behind only Michael Ryder and Karlis Skrastins to play in the NHL.
Frogren is the antithesis of everything you've ever heard, thought or seen about a Swedish player. If he was built any stouter, the Leafs could rent him out as a condo unit.
"I've been called a few things, mostly Froggy, but I got 'Fridge' and someone called me 'Killer' but I think they were just joking," he said of the inevitable nickname gambit.
He is not fancy but has a reputation for not getting into trouble in his own end. And, he is physical.
When he assisted on a goal against the Wings on Thursday, it tied his point total for all of last season.
"I don't think they put me here because I have to score," he said. "I think they put me here to be aggressive and raise the physical level."
Until now, the world championship had been his ultimate thrill. He can't imagine anything topping Thursday night -- unless it's tonight's home opener against Montreal.
"The world championships were a big thing but this is the best," he said.
"It's like a dream. It feels unreal. I think it will take a couple of days for it to sink in that I'm really here and actually playing in the NHL."
He recalls his father talking about Swedish star Borje Salming. He and Mats Sundin made the Leafs the toast of Sweden. That one day he would sit in their place and wear the same uniform seemed beyond thinking.
"It was difficult in the beginning, new town, new guys, new coaches, new language," he said.
But Anton Stralman, his defence partner with the national team, roomed with him in the pre-season and showed him around town.
He has moved into his own home now, and last night he was picking up his girlfriend, who was coming to join him from Sweden.
"This is my adventure," he said. "I've got nothing to lose and to be playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs is just so cool."
