Naslund Finds Post-Hockey Career in Carpentry
Former Montreal Canadiens forward Mats Naslund now works as a building carpenter in Hollviken, Sweden. He trained as a carpenter before his NHL career and has kept that trade as his main occupation, while still skating weekly and following his old club Timra. Naslund won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986 and later served as general manager of Sweden's national team from 2005 to 2010.
Mats Näslund learned carpentry as a teenager before leaving Timrå in 1978, and he returned to the trade after his playing days ended. He has said the skill gave him a clean break from hockey, and he never found leaving the game difficult. Now in his sixties, he works six to eight hours a day for a friend in Höllviken, a coastal town south of Malmö, and plans to continue as long as his body allows.
He remains connected to the sport at a distance: he skates weekly, watches his boyhood club Timrå, and attends games in southern Sweden. His career included the 1986 Cup, a 110-point season, and the Lady Byng in 1988.
Naslund's second career could resonate with retired athletes weighing life after sport, suggesting that a trade learned early may ease the transition. Fans who remember his Montreal years may find the contrast between arena fame and daily carpentry grounding rather than diminished. In Sweden, his continued presence in a small coastal town may quietly reinforce the idea that public figures can return to ordinary work without losing standing.