Finally there has been a Peter Forsberg update from the man himself. In a
televised interview with Sweden's SVT, Forsberg said that he plans to begin all-out skating to test his right foot within the next 2-3 weeks.
He said he's finally optimistic things will work out, but acknowledged that time is certainly beginning to run out ("visst börjar tiden rinna ut") for him to be ready to commit to signing with an NHL club by the February 26 deadline for playoff eligibility. Forsberg also acknowledged that it's possible he would elect to finish the season with Modo instead.
Forsberg said that if it doesn't work out this time, he's unlikely to make another comeback attempt, adding "It would look bleak. I've held on and battled this for so long."
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Flyers' beat writer Chuck Gormley had a further
update with additional comments from Forsberg.
Most significantly, Forsberg said of the Flyers' rumors, "It's nice to hear that they want me back and I enjoyed my time in the Flyers organization. It's one of many options. I haven't decided even if I will play yet. And I read somewhere that I am only interested in playing for one of the three clubs I've played for (Colorado, Philadelphia and Nashville). But I have never said that. I have a lot of options and Flyers are one of them."
The latter part is not true. In an
interview with Aftonbladet last June, Forsberg flat out stated that if he continued playing, he was leaning toward signing either with one of his three prior NHL clubs (Colorado, Philadelphia, Nashville) or with Modo in Europe. He didn't think a team change was likely.
(In Swedish: "Blir det spel i Europa blir det i Modo. Om jag stannar i NHL lutar det åt att det blir i någon av de tre klubbar jag spelat i. Något klubbyte tror jag inte blir aktuellt.")
Unless Aftonbladet blatantly misquoted Forsberg, there's no mistaking what he said.
Shortly thereafter, Forsberg amended that statement and said "there are 31 possibilities-- every NHL team plus Modo" and has publicly held to that statement ever since.
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Today, it was revealed that Forsberg may again attempt to play with the Swedish national team before declaring himself ready to sign a contract.
According to Tre Kronor head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Forsberg may try play for Sweden at the LG Hockey Games in Stockholm between Feb. 7-10.
Forsberg, of course, attempted to play for Tre Kronor at the Karjala Cup in Finland in November but had to withdraw from the tournament after the same old stability issues with his right foot arose in a practice session in Jönköping.
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