It’s been four months since Henrik Lundqvist helped Sweden win the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Championships after his Rangers were eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Senators, and he is champing at the bit to play some meaningful hockey again.

“For me, it’s the competition part,” Lundqvist said at his Hockey Fantasy Pro Camp in New York. “That’s what really strikes me. It’s fun to compete and you miss that over the summer when you don’t skate.”

Shortly after the World Championships, it was revealed that Lundqvist suffered a Grade-1 MCL sprain during the tournament. Initial reports suggested that Lundqvist would be out of action until Rangers’ training camp, but in reality the injury didn’t play a significant role in Lundqvist’s normal off-season routine.

“I probably rested, like complete rest, for over a month,” Lundqvist said. “But then you want to start training. You do it every year. It doesn’t matter if it was this year or eight years ago, my schedule didn’t change. I trained the same way and I felt the same.”

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