When he stepped on the ice at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena, Gustav Nyquist usually put on a show.
During his three seasons at UMaine, the swift-skating winger would maneuver gracefully down the ice causing headaches for his opponents.
A thoroughbred named after him, Nyquist, has smoothly and speedily negotiated racetracks to the tune of seven wins in seven races and is one of the favorites to win Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Nyquist is owned by J. Paul Reddam of Reddam Racing, a rabid, longtime Detroit Red Wings fan. He has named several of his horses after current or former Detroit players including (Pavel) Datsyuk, (Nicklas) Lidstrom, (Henrik) Zetterberg, (Petr) Mrazek, (Niklas) Kronwall and (Tomas) Tatar.
None has been as successful as Nyquist.
Gustav Nyquist was invited to watch the Kentucky Derby by Reddam but is in Russia playing for Sweden in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.
He could not be reached for comment.
In a recent NHL.com story, Nyquist said he has watched the horse race on the Internet.
“He runs fast, he wins races. That’s a good thing since he’s a horse,” said the 26-year-old Nyquist, who has scored 72 goals in his last three seasons with the Red Wings.
He said it was strange listening to the announcers call the race.
“It’s a little different when you hear your name mentioned in a horse race and not a hockey game,” said Nyquist, a two-time All-American and Hobey Baker finalist at UMaine.
Nyquist said that even though he doesn’t follow horse racing, it is popular in his native Sweden.
Reddam, a native of Windsor, Ontario, located directly across the Detroit River from Detroit, said in an AL.com story that “there wasn’t a connection betwen the name Nyquist and what it connoted about the player with the horse.
“But that having been said, I’ve always thought that Nyquist the hockey player played the game at a very high level and conducted himself with a lot of class. And wouldn’t you know it, the horse is kind of the same way.”
Nyquist told FOX Sports, “There’s a few guys [for whom Reddam has named a horse] but it’s nice to see that this one is the most successful one. I just with him all the luck, and I hope he wins.”
According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, Nyquist the horse will have the Stanley Cup in his stall on Saturday before the race.
The idea belonged to Steve Brener, the president of a successful sports public relations firm, which works with the NHL and Santa Anita Park in California.
“How cool is that?” said Doug O’Neill, Nyquist’s trainer. “The human Nyquist won’t get to skate around with the Cup this year, but the equine Nyquist gets two white-gloved guards bringing him the Cup to drink from. Life is good.”