In the darkness of Oslo, the TV lights glow.
Shortly after 2 a.m. Monday morning in Norway, the puck drops in New York, beginning Game 4 between the Rangers and Canadiens. It’s the Eastern Conference finals, and the player — Mats Zuccarello — is bigger than the game.
Quiet becomes an afterthought, much like the sport historically has been in Norway, and much like the 5-foot-7 reason for sleep deprivation once was.
“We all stay up a lot later now,” Robin Dahlstrom, Zuccarello’s stepbrother and national teammate, said via phone from Norway. “It’s exciting. It’s the playoffs.”
It’s history.
Zuccarello, the only Norwegian in the NHL, could become the country’s first player to reach the Stanley Cup final, and he is just the seventh countryman ever to play in the league.
After each sunrise, the rest of the nation catches up, his name in headlines starting to mean as much as the sports — soccer and cross country — that heavily surpass hockey’s popularity.
Having known Zuccarello for nearly 20 years, Norway teammate Alex Bonsaksen still finds it hard to believe, because of how often his friend was given reason not to believe.
“When we were younger, a lot of people would say that he was too small to make it in the top league in Norway, and then he dominated. And then he was too small to make it in Sweden, then he proved them wrong again,” Bonsaksen said. “I always knew he was a great player, the most talented, but even I didn’t think that he would end up in the NHL.”
Just three Norwegians had played in the NHL when they were growing up in the suburbs of Oslo, with Zuccarello raised by his half-Italian, single mother, Anita, who remarried when he was 10. He doesn’t remember what got him into hockey, but he remembers instantly being hooked as a child.
After attending the Norwegian College of Elite Sport at the age of 15 to focus on hockey, he won the award as Norway’s top player before moving on to the Swedish Elite League, where he won an MVP. Then, after an impressive showing in the 2010 Olympics, the Rangers brought him over as an undrafted free agent.
“With his talent and his skills, he always was the best,” Bonsaken said. “His passing and moves and the way he reads the game, he always thought he was good enough. He just needed a real shot.”
That would not come, not yet anyway.
Zuccarello’s first season with the Rangers included nearly as many games in Hartford. Under coach John Tortorella, Zuccarello’s creativity and playmaking went unappreciated, with the winger playing just 10 games in his second season before being kicked back to Connecticut and left off the playoff roster in 2012.
After 52 NHL games and 73 AHL games, Zuccarello left New York, wondering if he was leaving New York for good.
“I want to be a New York Ranger, but I’m not going to lie, there’s some part of me that wants to go,” Zuccarello said at the time.
During last season’s lockout, Zuccarello played in the KHL (Russia), and when offered a return to the Rangers in March, he contemplated passing on the opportunity, unsure if the ultimate goal was a worthwhile goal any longer.
“I was happy and playing a lot in Russia, and I didn’t know if I wanted to give that up to come back again,” Zuccarello said before the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Game 3. “Then, when you thought hard enough and got some advice from your family, this is where you want to be. I wanted to give it a chance. It’s better to give it a chance and not succeed then not trying again.”
“The Hobbit” returned and the mood immediately lightened.
Henrik Lundqvist tweeted: “Hear rumors that the Hobbit is taking a break filming with Gandalf to meet with us up there.. Can someone confirm this?”
Zuccarello, often described as a relentlessly endearing button-pusher, wrote back:
@HLundqvist30 if u mean the guy that kan score on u whenever he wants pretty much then yeah ur right;)
— Mats Zuccarello (@zuccarello36) March 27, 2013
Zuccarello, 26, is shy around those he doesn’t know, but a scene-stealer among those he’s familiar with, having won over the Rangers locker room long before helping win games as the team’s leader in points this season. He always seems to have a one-liner, often multiple lines, ready at all times, whether playing as Bowser in Nintendo’s Mario Kart or at the expense of Lundqvist, a constant target of his during practices.
“He’s the only one who really does it [to Lundqvist],” defenseman Anton Stralman said. “He probably scores more than he misses, so he can do it.”
“He just likes to poke people, he likes to get under your skin, and once you know him, you just kind of let it go,” said Derick Brassard, one of Zuccarello’s closest friends on the team. “That’s just the way he is. He’s got swag, but he’s a really good person and good player. He gets along with everyone in the room, and he brings a lot of joy in our dressing room and on the ice.”
Brassard laughs, John Moore smiles, Stralman shakes his head — the immediate reactions at the mention of Zuccarello’s personality. The words that follow from his teammates are welcome, but superfluous, no match for the knee-jerk display of affection that can’t be hidden and can’t be faked.
“He’s a bit of a joker, he likes to be involved in all the conversations,” Stralman said. “He’s one of those guys that 99 out of 100 days he’ll have a good attitude. He’s funny and always busting balls. He’s one of those guys that there’s always something happening around him, and he’s always fun to be around.”
That’s how it is and that’s how it’s been.
“He was pretty much the same as he is now, a little cocky, a good personality,” said Dahlstrom, describing Zuccarello growing up. “He always got more attention in the room than the rest of the guys. It’s not a bad thing, that’s just how he is.”
The puck drops and the switch flips, Zuccarello playing with an unrivaled amount of energy, passion and physicality, as if he’s forgotten his small size or understands how to make up for it.
This season he won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, given to the Ranger who goes above and beyond the call of duty.
“He’s a character, someone who is rarely quiet or laid back, always up to something and making light of thing,” Moore said, “but when it comes time to play he’s a competitive guy and someone you definitely want to go to war with.”
Even in this career-best season, Zuccarello started slow, failing to register a point in his first seven games.
A healthy scratch could have spiraled the season, but instead, years of flashes and curiosity and potential finally found its form, as he tied for the team-lead in assists (40) and is tied for second on the team in postseason points (11).
“I needed a couple years to adjust and really be comfortable,” Zuccarello said. “Some adjust faster than others.”
Coach Alain Vigneault recently said, “He is extremely hard-working, extremely passionate about the game. … He’s worked his way to [be] this player.”
Now, in evenings and mornings, in his home of Norway and adopted home of New York, much is expected and much is at stake. And that’s how he wants it.
“He’s always been the player that loves big games,” Bonsaksen said. “He pretty much always delivers when he’s on the spot. He really enjoys it.”
What’s not to enjoy?
“It’s been probably the best year — playing in the Olympics for Norway, I’m playing in New York, playing big minutes and being a big part of a team like you feel like you’re a bigger part of than you were before,” Zuccarello said. “Obviously, this is probably the greatest feeling and memories that you’ll have, going far with this group of guys that are all your close friends, being able to compete for a Stanley Cup, it’s huge.
“No one is taking anything for granted here.”