Rasmus Sandin is a gifted young defenceman that plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs and apparently is also now an avid mushroom hunter.
After signing his new two-year, $2.8-million contract with the Leafs, Sandin met with the media on Sunday during team practice and spoke about a reportedly tenacious negotiation between player and team. And due to that stress-inducing summer of not knowing if he would be able to start the regular season with the club, Sandin went into the Swedish woods to go foraging and distract himself from his situation.
“I was actually out walking in the woods a couple of times and that’s something I’ve not done before,” the 22-year-old said via TSN. “I was looking for some chanterelle [mushrooms] in the woods. I didn’t look at my phone. I was just focusing on finding some chanterelles out there. I [used them] in some cooking so that was a big help. I didn’t have to go buy them in the store.”
In case you did not grow up around the woods, chanterelles are one of the more popular edible mushrooms found in the wild. They are an orangey-yellow colour with a cap that somewhat resembles the end of a trumpet and they sometimes smell like apricots, according to the mushroom’s entry on Wikipedia.
There aren’t many hockey players willing to talk about hunting for some mushrooms that smell like apricots. Sandin is one of a kind.
The young blueliner is still going through fitness training after joining training camp a couple weeks late, according to Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. But the reported plan is for Sandin to see some preseason action before the games start to actually matter.
According to teammate Mitch Marner, Sandin appeared to be in game shape during his first practice back with the Leafs.
“He didn’t look like he was off pace at all,” said Marner. “He looked like he was fresh.”
The Leafs will be in Montreal facing the Canadiens on Monday before completing their preseason with games against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and Saturday. They start their regular season on Oct. 12 on the road against the Canadiens.
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