William Nylander’s home base has always felt most like home about thirty-five minutes outside of Stockholm.

Since William Nylander was a young boy, the Nylander family has spent every summer together at this location, which is also the long-term vacation residence of former NHL player Michael Nylander.

The main house, the guest house, and the barn are where William has essentially called home since he could hold a hockey stick. This isn’t the kind of barn you would use to store hay bales, horses, or cows. William says that’s not how nice it is. There are two hockey nets and wooden floors, as one might expect in a home with hockey players.

Alex, William’s younger brother, and William would spend hours and days holed up there.

William would shoot and Alex would play goalie. They would hurl sticks. There would be fights.

“But whatever happened after the fight, we would be best friends again,” Alex remarked.

Then they could run onto the shooting ramp Michael constructed in the area by the soccer nets and shoot pucks. Next, take thirty seconds to reach the neighboring dock and jump into the lake. After that, a trip to the sauna.

When they were boys, William and Alex would frequently go to their father’s gym to watch him work out in the off-season to get ready for another NHL season.