857 points in 983 games in the NHL, 152 points in 211 games in the Swedish highest tier, one World Championship, one Olympic bronze medal, and one Stanley Cup Championship. Tomas Sandstrom was an incredible player, achieving almost all his dreams.
He’s a Swedish hockey icon, and it’s now more than 20 years since he retired. He immediately left hockey; since then, he has spent his days making a difference in his community.
Making it in hockey was one dream for Sandstrom. Another was to help people in need. And since he retired from hockey, he has worked as a firefighter in the town Trelleborg in Sweden.
”Money is important but the most important thing is life is to fill your days up with something,” he said in an interview some years ago.
”After retiring my plan was to take it easy for one year but it wasn’t for me. I went up, made breakfast, got my kids to school, drank coffee, sat in the sofa, watched TV and then I went back to sleep. I had lunch, read the paper. What kind of day is that? I like to be active. I can just sitt in an chair when I’m older.”
And that’s why Sandstrom, who’s 58 years old today, spends his days fighting fires. He does it despite earning millions of dollars in the NHL, where he played for 15 years.
But Sandstrom also runs a carpentry business.
”Oh yeah, the carpentry business… I’m the only one working there. And then I’ve also developed an app for the part-time firefighter job I have in another town.”
What an incredible person and what an inspirational work ethic!
