ON THE PITCH JUST FOR KICKS

Sens’ Zibanejad still enjoys soccer

In January 2012, Mika Zibanejad scored in overtime of the final at the World Junior Hockey Championship to give Sweden a 1-0 win over Russia — and the country’s first title at the tournament in 31 years.

It was a proud moment for the then-18-year-old, his family and his country, and a moment of validation given that just two years earlier Zibanejad was at a crossroads, unsure where his future would lead: hockey or soccer.

“I had two summers in a row where I was kind of on the edge, leaning toward soccer,” says Zibanejad, a budding NHL star now in his third season with the Ottawa Senators. “I guess I’m happy I didn’t do that, but I had a lot of support from my family and friends telling me to keep going with hockey.”

Hindsight being 20/20, Zibanejad knows he made the right decision, but it certainly didn’t come easy.

“I remember starting with soccer before hockey,” he says. “I was playing soccer because my dad came from a soccer background and it’s quite big in Sweden, as well. It’s a mix between soccer and hockey. I always loved soccer and then hockey came in my life and kind of changed things up a bit.”

While the Senators rely on the centre for his offensive skills — he finished the regular season sixth in scoring — he played goal as a soccer player, and is still very much involved with the game he loves.

“The last two summers I played a couple of games (in Ottawa) when I’m back from Sweden. I also play with a bunch of friends back home during the summer,” he says.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s obviously so much easier to deal with soccer than hockey. It’s hard to find people with skates and sticks or whatever. It’s so much easier to just grab a ball and if you don’t have nets, you just set up nets with cones or shoes or whatever and you play.”

It’s also a bit of a ritual before Senators games for a handful of players to warm up by kicking a soccer ball around the bowels of NHL arenas.

“I think everyone thinks they’re the best in that group, but I would rank myself as one of the top guys,” says Zibanejad.

And if he’s not playing he gets his fix on television.

“I watch soccer pretty much every day. If it’s not highlights it’s a game. I’m a (Manchester United) fan and I follow them pretty closely. I just like watching good soccer. I’m excited watching Champions League and other teams, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, even though it’s not the Premier League,” he says. “I just enjoy soccer, especially coming from a soccer background and it being very popular back home. It makes it special.”

Although his countrymen will never see him play for Sweden at the FIFA World Cup — and he’ll never score a Golden Goal — Zibanejad will always have that gold medal-winning goal to look back on at the world juniors, a sign he made the right decision when he gave up competitive soccer.

“Soccer has always been a special thing for me. It’s something I really enjoy playing and watching. It was a hard decision,” he says.