Mike, you are a very well-known profile in the whole ice hockey world but please tell Based On People's network a little bit about how you ended up in Sweden and how it started?

"Hockey should work for you - you should not work for hockey!"
These were the words that came from my coach when I was 18 and stuck in my brain. This mindset brought me to Sweden in 1992. I had graduated from the University of Michigan and was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL. At the same time, I was very far from an NHL contract so I decided to move to a new country and try to learn a new language and even learn a new culture.
In Linköping I got the opportunity to let hockey work for me. My goal was to play two seasons before returning to the US to pursue a master's degree.
But life doesn't always go as planned - however, my personal journey was connected to Linköping Hockey Club. In March 2002 Linköping HC was in the Elitserien (SHL) to stay and I retired as a player after 10 seasons. Cecilia and I had been married for several years and our second child was on the way when I left the ice to become LHC's first club director.

As a former club director in SHL and now an expert commentator in C More, how do you think this period with Corona will affect elite hockey over time?

Corona has affected the entire world. Elite sports are no exception, it can even be compared to the travel industry when almost everything was canceled in one week in March.
In the short term, I see that sports will have to be carried out without a larger audience. In the longer term, it may develop into a new barrier or excuse for people not going to physical games. There is a strong likelihood that the effect will be that live TV will become increasingly dominated for 'sports consumption'. We won't have big sports gatherings until the vaccine for Covid 19 is available to everyone.
About 13 years ago iphones came along, together with a faster connection (streaming) the audience behavior changed to consume sports more and more via phone, computer or TV.
Unfortunately, I think Covid 19 will be a new excuse for many to think twice about whether it is worth the risk of infection to go and watch a match, or is it safer and more convenient to be at home and watch the match on TV?

You have become a Swedish citizen - Was it obvious?

When our daughter Alva was born in 1999, I said that I will apply for Swedish citizenship as I had lived as long in Sweden as the United States. I passed this point about five years ago but finally applied about a year ago. It went fast and I am proud to be Swedish but have actually felt more Swedish than American for the last 15 years. I have adapted to "Swedish - group and team values" and appreciate the security of Sweden for me and my family. It feels natural to: be a leader in sports clubs, go to the recycling center, run a company in work culture development, cycle to parties in a suit and the wife in a dress, have coffee with employees, inspect the car, lecture on individual and group development and even dress up as Santa Claus at Christmas. For me, it's typically Swedish.