De la Rose: Honored to sport Sweden's colors

MONTREAL - When Jacob de la Rose joined the Swedish contingent for workouts last week in Stockholm, he met up with a rather familiar face to Habs fans the world over.

It was Peter Popovic, who has been an assistant coach with Tre Kronor since 2011.
The 50-year-old former defenseman, who patrolled the Canadiens' blue line between the 1993-94 and 1997-98 campaigns, had an important question for the young forward.
"He was asking me if his pictures were still up around the Bell Centre," explained de la Rose, who will make his first-ever appearance for Sweden's senior side at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Denmark. "I told him that I'd seen his face a few times and on some rosters, too."

The pair also bonded over their shared love for Montreal.
"He kind of told me about when he first got drafted by the Canadiens [in 1988] and playing there. He said the passion of the fans, you can't compare it to any other team in the NHL," mentioned de la Rose, on his chat with the former eight-year NHL veteran, who also suited up for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins. "He really enjoyed his time in the city and on the team."
For his part, de la Rose will have his fair share of familiar faces in the stands at Royal Arena in Copenhagen, where the Swedes will play all seven of their preliminary round games. They open the tournament on Friday against Belarus.
"My whole family will be there. My mom, dad, sister and brother. My uncle. I've got some friends that are going to be there, too. My grandma and grandpa are coming. Basically everybody," said de la Rose, on his large-scale support system in the Danish capital. "It's going to be nice for them to be able to watch me so closely, not just on TV, like they've been doing over the last eight months."

This will mark de la Rose's first tour of duty for his country since captaining the Swedes to a fourth-place finish at the World Juniors in 2015 on Canadian soil.
It was an opportunity the 22-year-old Arvika native simple couldn't pass up.
"I'm really honored. There was no hesitation from my side when they asked me. I wanted to go right away," said de la Rose, who put up four goals and 12 points in 55 games with the Canadiens this past season - his first full season in the NHL ranks. "It's a big honor to represent your country, and you never know if you're ever going to get the chance to do it again. For me, it was a no-brainer."
Admittedly, reacclimating himself to playing on a bigger ice surface has been a bit of a challenge, but de la Rose insists that he's up to the task.
"I like to think that I'm a pretty good skater. I can use my skating a lot on big ice. There's also a lot of space. It's kind of weird, especially in the D zone. There's just so much space to cover, but it feels better with every practice," explained de la Rose. "It should be good when the tournament starts."

De la Rose is one of many NHLers on a roster that also includes the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Gustav Nyquist, Mikael Backlund and Adrian Kempe up front, along with John Klingberg, Adam Larsson and Oliver Ekman Larsson on the back end, and Filip Gustavsson and Anders Nilsson in goal.
And, he is eager to see what both he and his countrymen can accomplish in the weeks to come.
"We have a good team. If we can get it all together, I think we're going to have a good chance," concluded de la Rose. "There are a lot of good teams, too. It's going to be tough, but we're going to do everything we can to win."