EMILIOOOO!

Earlier this week, Emil Bemstrom scored a goal in his Penguins debut, tallying on the power play during Pittsburgh’s wild 7-6 win over Philadelphia on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

"It's always nice when you get to a new team and produce the first game. It was a huge two points, too. So, happy for the win,” the soft-spoken Swede said.

Bemstrom’s hockey nickname has typically always been one of two variations on his last name – Bemmer (which he prefers) or Beamer – but his new teammates had some other creative ideas.

As Kris Letang stood up and prepared to award the Jofa helmet to the player of the game that night, he mentioned how the team “got some big saves from our goalie, big goals from a bunch of guys” – but he had to give it to…

“EMILIO!” Letang cried.

At that point, Erik Karlsson went on an insurance-themed tangent, yelling, “EMU! LIMU EMU! EMU EMU! LIBERTY, LIBERTY, LIBERTY!”

Bemstrom laughed about it later, and seemed to accept that this group will probably call him whatever they want. He’s just happy to be here and be part of a group that’s still fighting to keep themselves in the playoff picture after coming from Columbus, who drafted the 24-year-old in the fourth round back in 2017.

On the ice, Bemstrom has a terrific shot, with Mike Sullivan calling it one of his biggest strengths. “But 5-on-5 also, I think he has good mobility. He skates well. And regardless of where we fit him in the lineup, or put him on a certain line, I think he's going to bring an offensive dimension to help us,” the Penguins Head Coach said.

Off the ice, Bemstrom describes himself as a “pretty simple guy.” Get to know him a little better through this Q&A.

What players or teams did you follow growing up in Sweden?

I was a big Peter Forsberg fan, so Colorado. My dad was a former hockey player. So, he was my biggest role model. (I got started playing) because my dad introduced me. He was a centerman.

What are some of your interests outside of hockey? Like, when you're not at the rink or when you're on a road trip and you've got time to yourself, what do you like to do?

I like nice food, so I’m a big foodie guy. I like to play golf as well. I also play video games. I like to watch shows, probably (seen) almost everything, I would say. But my favorite one would probably be Breaking Bad.

We've been to Columbus a decent amount playing in the same division. Do you have a certain restaurant there you’re super into?

Santo, it’s called. It's a new Italian spot there. it’s pretty good.

If you could pick out sort of your ideal meal, what would that be?

I don't think I can do that… there’s so many, I can’t name one. But if I had to, probably like Asian fusion.

Do you cook at all, or not so much?

I’ve been starting a little bit this year. The most common one is probably Swedish tacos.

What goes into a Swedish taco?

Ground meat, bananas, garlic sauce…

Sounds interesting! I was talking to Karl about Swedish kebab pizza, and he was raving about it.

It’s good, but you can’t find anything like that over here.

What would be your job if you weren't a pro athlete?

Golfer, probably. I’ve recently gotten into it.

How would you describe your skill at this point?

Average. Getting better.

Do you have any favorite golfers?

We got a new, pretty good guy; Swedish younger guy, Ludvig Aberg. I follow him a little bit.

Tell me the story behind this Instagram post of you meeting Post Malone and then playing in the DJ booth.

He’s been one of my favorite artists, so, I was kind of starstruck a little bit, but it was cool. I just like music, and I got a couple friends that work in that branch or whatever. So they just asked me if I wanted to play, and I said yes. I played just mixtapes, you know? My type of music.

What is your type of music?

Probably like Peggy Gou, Solomon, Black Coffee.

What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken?
South of France. I usually travel with a bunch of my friends, and we went there last summer. It was awesome. I usually travel once or twice in Europe in the summer, Spain and somewhere else.