Swedish ice hockey legend joins the American Padel race
Henrik Zetterberg - long-time captain of the Detroit Red Wings and, among other things, Olympic gold medalist in ice hockey with Sweden - is at the forefront of a new investment in the growing sport of Padel in the USA.
Many consider the USA the sleeping giant in the sport of Padel. Sweden is the country that has experienced the most explosive growth in sports. So, the logic is quite evident when a former Swedish NHL player helps bring the sport to the United States.
Swedish Team: Henrik Zetterberg has teamed up with several other stakeholders to create a state-of-the-art padel center in Detroit - Zmash Padel - with eight courts- the largest center in the Midwest. The two Swedish NHL players, Niklas Kronwall and Gustav Nyquist, and the former World Padel Tour player, Robert Kjellberg, are collaborating. He has most recently been involved in the Swedish padel chain First Class Padel but now focuses exclusively on the new American adventure.
Found padel: Henrik Zetterberg stopped his career in 2019 and moved with his family back to Ängelholm. The last few years had been characterized by back problems, and running and tennis caused the pain to break up. But Padel did not cause problems with his back, and now he plays three times a week.
Expanding: Now, the trip often goes to Detroit, where the family has many friends and now also a business—a business that the partners behind Zmash Padel expect to soon expand with another center in Detroit. Cleveland and Chicago are also on the list of possible locations.
Source: The Detroit News