Fredrik Modin of the Columbus Blue Jackets. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The 33-year-old veteran left-winger from Sundsvall, Sweden, won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2004. Since then he's been a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and is one of their assistant captains.

CBCSports.ca: How did you get into hockey?

Modin: "I started probably around four or five years old. I think it was just my dad that brought us out skating for fun, both me and my brother, and we caught on to it. We grew up in a small town in Sweden, and we got involved at the local club there, practising, and later on when we got a little bit older we started playing games as well."

CBCSports.ca: What was the first game you can remember playing?

Modin: "I don't know if there was one game really that sticks out, that I can really remember, just a lot of memories from 10 to 15 years old. We were playing games against other local teams, kind of like a house league, in different areas around the city where we lived.

"We didn't have a whole lot of teams there, it might have been five teams that we were playing against, and it wasn't as serious as it is today. I think up until 10 or 12 years old I don't think we had more than one practice a week, and a game on the weekend. It was basically the same bunch of guys hanging out. In the summer we were playing soccer and during winters we played hockey."

CBCSports.ca: Who was your funniest teammate, and why?

Modin: "We had a guy on our team that would always seem to get himself into trouble somehow, seemed to mess things up a little bit and did things his own way. His name was Mats--I don't know if I can remember his last name, it was way back there. He was one of those guys who was great to be around and it was always fun to see what he was going to do next."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the most memorable tournament you ever played?

Modin: "We always had one tournament at home in our rink, where we had a few teams come up from Stockholm and around the country. That one was pretty big for us and we might have been around 12 or 13 years old. It was just having a week of doing nothing else but playing hockey, seeing other teams coming to our little town to play us, meeting a lot of new players and all the downtime in between games, and just hanging out with my teammates that sticks out.

"I don't really remember how we did--we didn't win it, but we might've been in the semifinals and got knocked out. It was always fun. We didn't go on many tournaments but we tried to raise money to make sure we got one in every year."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the worst arena you've ever played at?

Modin: "Back in those days we played on a lot of outdoor rinks and it was really cold at times. And we had to shovel the snow in between periods every time we played.

"Growing up and getting a little older, we used to play a team called Mjurunda SK, which just had basically a big tent on top of the rink to keep the snow away. It was freezing cold and it echoed kind of funny in there--you couldn't hear what your own coach was yelling. It was brutal."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the coldest game of hockey you ever played?

Modin: "Growing up, if it was more than 25 degrees below Celsius, we didn't play on the outdoor rinks. But I'm sure we played when it was colder that that sometimes.

"I remember we had, almost like a thick fur sock that fits on top of your skates with a zipper on top of it. So everybody was skating around with furry white skates, just to keep the feet warm. (laughs) You still basically froze your toes off anyway. It helped a little bit but you looked kind of funny. And during intermission, we're sitting on the bench with blankets around us drinking warm lemonade just to stay warm.

"We didn't mind it, but nowadays I look back, and I can't even imagine what my parents had to go through at times. We're moving around and we're still freezing our feet off, and they're just standing on the side, middle of winter, watching us in this weather.

"That's another thing: you're looking around and all the parents are standing around the rink outside, and I don't think anyone's standing still. Everybody was jumping up and down, moving their arms and legs and kicking trying to stay warm. It was just so cold. The arenas I take my son to play hockey, they get a little chilly at times, but that's when I have to look back at my parents and all of a sudden they feel pretty warm."

CBCSports.ca: Who was the most memorable hockey parent you ever met?

Modin: "I think all the parents in my town, basically. Everybody knew everybody in that little town--you hear stories over here of parents yelling and screaming at other parents, trying to start fights, and we never really had that. They were all good.

"When you get older, you look back and there were certain parents that always drove to the games, and always packed their cars full, with the other kids on the team. No matter how cold it was, or how early it was, they were always there and they were always taking care of not just their own kid but everybody else's too. We had a bunch of those on our team.

"At the time you don't even think twice about it, but now looking back, without the parents I would never be where I am today. It takes a lot of time, most of the time it's on weekends, and they were always there. Even at 25 below they're standing there tying your skates on. That's the kind of stuff I really start thinking about, especially now when I have a son myself. It's pretty amazing."