One-time Red Wings Prospect Making Comeback

Eighteen years after he was a Detroit Red Wings hopeful, Dick Axelsson is making a pro hockey comeback. The 37-year-old left-winger will be playing this season with Djurgarden in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second division.

The veteran Swede was ending a two-season retirement last season to play for Brodernas/Vasby in the Swedish third division and Allsvenskan qualifiers. He was announcing his retirement a second time following the campaign. But Djurgarden, his club from 2007-09 and again from 2018-22, were luring Axelsson back to the ice.

Djurgården ger Dick Axelsson mer tid att förbereda sig inför sin comeback. Robert Kimby om planen.
Och så här ser backpar och kedjor ut för stunden.#twittpuck #difhockey https://t.co/DnvZ2kPVU2

— Mattias Ek (@hockeyeken) August 20, 2024

“I am of the belief that a person deserves both one and two chances to show what one is fully up to,” Djurgarden sports director Niklas Wikegard said in a statement on the team’s website.

Axelsson is a two-time SHL champion and was an Elitserien All-Star selection in 2010-11. He also won a Swiss League title with Davos.

Red Wings Sojourn An Unmitigated Disaaster

When the Red Wings were claiming Axelsson 62nd overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft, they were expecting big things. He was chosen ahead of such future prominent NHLers as Brad Marchard, Cal Clutterbuck and James Reimer, last season a Red Wings netminder.

Coming to North America for the 2009-10 season, Axelsson was arriving in Hockeytown for training camp a confused young man. He didn’t feel that he belonged amongst the best players in the world.

“I barely felt like going,” Axelsson recounted to Swedish website Aftonbladet. “I was extremely unsure and didn’t feel like doing it.”

At Red Wings training camp, Axelsson was a puddle of uncertainty. He was lacking confidence and barely spoke English.

Vad minns Dick Axelsson av sin NHL-draft? Och hur blir det med comebacken?@Fimpen20 ställer frågorna. pic.twitter.com/ylhHMuuwoh

— Hockeysverige.se (@hockeysverige) June 13, 2024

“You’re pretty young,” he said. “It’s the best league in the world. People tell you to do it.”

Then there were his encounters with Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, which, let’s just say, were unpleasant.

One day, he was walking through the bowels of Joe Louis Arena and came across Babcock, who gave the young Swede one of his patented icy stares.

“Who are you?” Babcock asked Axelsson.

“I guess it’s funny in retrospect, but not at the time,” Axelsson remembered.

One day during practice, Axlesson was the selection to begin a complicated drill. However, his limited grasp of English left him in a state of confusion as to what he was supposed to do following Babcock’s instructions.

“He laughed at me but I was ashamed,” Axelsson recalled. “I was a big joke but it wasn’t so much fun barely understanding a word.”

Walked Out On Red Wings

Ultimately, Axelsson was given assignment to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. However, after producing 2-3-5 totals in 17 games, in December of 2009 Axelsson told the Red Wings he was going home to Sweden. He was quitting on the NHL dream.

The Red Wings placed Axelsson under suspension.

“I think they viewed me as a chicken Swede,” Axelsson said. “This skill guy who doesn’t want to put in the work and just went home.

“No one from Detroit or (my) agent even helped me book a plane ticket. I had to buy it myself. (Teammate Mattias) Ritola took me out to the airport.

“I remember being extremely sad. I actually cried at the airport. Mostly because I had failed my teammates. I had gotten so many good friends and then I just left. But of course there was relief as well. ‘Damn, now it’s over.'”

Over the years, he’s never heard the end of it, from fans, media, even occasionally teammates.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked the same question – “What the hell happened in Detroit?” Axelsson said.

“I should have trusted my gut and never went over there to begin with. In a way it was good I took the chance to see what it was like, but it was clear the hockey didn’t suit me.

“At the same time, I wasn’t good enough for the NHL at that time. Detroit probably had a good idea with me, but it turned into piss.”