The bye week felt like the perfect time for a new edition of Player Essentials, featuring Erik Karlsson. The future Hall of Famer took a few minutes to share some of his key must-haves.
Kion coffee
“We order all our beans and stuff. We use Kion,” Karlsson said. “I really like those because they’re fairly clean, the process they go through. I drink a lot of coffee.”
Wine
“It started when going to dinners on the road with the guys. The older guys like to have their wine, and that's kind of how I got into it. Before I came here to North America, I didn't really drink wine,” the Swedish defenseman said. Then, living close to wine country during his time with San Jose, Karlsson’s interest grew even further. “I think he’s really into it,” Marcus Pettersson said. “You can tell. When he’s out to dinner, he always asks for the wine list even if we’re not drinking that night, just to see what they have and compare prices and stuff like that. He knows a lot.”
MC: What do you gravitate towards?
EK: “Let’s go by country. So, my number one is French. I like French wine the best. Italian is second, and California is third. That's my preferred order. I think. But I drink it all (laughs).”
MC: If you had to pick one bottle to recommend, what would it be?
EK: “For a good value wine, I recommend Austin Hope. I started drinking that a long time ago, back when it first came out, like five years ago. It was at like, $28 a bottle. Now it’s around $50. That’s a good one, and you can get that at the wine store here.”
Swedish kebab pizza
“My favorite food is pizza,” Karlsson said. “I like ricotta cheese, onion, pepperoni… but what I really like the most is Swedish kebab pizza. That’s the best. The Swedes are going to know what I’m talking about.”
Pettersson did, though he prefers the sandwich form of Swedish kebab. He agreed with Karlsson that it tastes better back home. “You gotta go to Sweden to try one. I tried having like, a little pita bread with kebab on the side, and it’s not the same,” Pettersson said.
Amble clothing and MyJoys golf shoes
Karlsson loves to golf, having done Oakmont, Pittsburgh Field Club, St. Clair Country Club, and Allegheny Country Club here in Pennsylvania. The best one he’s ever played is Cypress Point. Karlsson said all he needs to have a good day on the links is “to shoot under 80, which doesn't happen as often as I would like,” he said with a laugh.
As for gear, “Amble is my preferred brand I go to. It’s a small company in California. So, they sell stuff, but they're just in the starting period. They'll get big at some point. That's what I wear. For shoes, I wear a lot of MyJoys. They’re old-school golf shoes. I like that.”
Jason Spezza
When it comes to Karlsson’s clothes, Pittsburgh’s assistant general manager has apparently been a big influence. They played together in Ottawa for the first five seasons of Karlsson’s career, with the veteran Spezza taking the blueliner under his wing. The pair would go shopping together before Spezza moved on to Dallas. “I've given up on it ever since Spez left me in Ottawa. He got me into it, and then he bailed on me. I lost interest a little bit,” Karlsson said. “I didn’t make the effort because I didn't have anyone to go with. It's been a while since I actually went and shopped for clothes myself. If I see something sometimes, I do, but now my wife is in charge of that.” Erik said his spouse Melissa has predominantly bought everything for him over the last 5-6 years.
Watches with leather or Velcro bands
As Karlsson walked into the locker room before doing this interview last month, Kris Letang called out to his teammate. “Hey, Karl, what did you get me for Christmas? You got me a Rolex? He got me a Rolex. Write it down!”
The two future Hall of Fame defensemen have bonded over watches, as they both collect them. “A lot of the conversations we have are about that, or just common interests in general. Watches is one of them, cars is another. All the stuff that you should not be into, we are into,” Karlsson grinned.
He wears a watch at pretty much all times, only taking it off to sleep and play hockey. When it comes to which one gets the most use, “it varies a lot. I have some pieces that I haven't worn for years and then I end up wearing them a lot.” But with two young children at home, “I wear more leather or Velcro straps, so softer watches. The big ones that I have with the steel bands and gold bands, I don't wear as much now, I’ve found, with kids. That’s the wave right now. When they get older and don't get carried around everywhere, maybe I’ll go back to those.”
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