During the Capitals morning skate at Little Caesars Arena, Henrik Zetterberg stopped by with his son, Love.

Nicklas Backstrom skated over to the bench to say hi.

Video

The two Swedes’ interaction was caught briefly by the the Capitals Instagram during a live video from practice.

Backstrom and Zetterberg are former teammates on the Swedish national team and long time friends. The two first met in 2006. A then 18-year-old Backstrom played alongside Zetterberg, 25, at the World Championship in Latvia.

According to the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan, Backstrom quickly came to admire Zetterberg and leaned on the forward for advice on if he should go straight to the NHL after being drafted. Backstrom ended up waiting a year.

Via Khurshudyan:

“He kind of came up in the same situation as me,” Backstrom said. “He got drafted and then he stayed home one or two extra years. And when I was there in the exact situation, I actually got very fortunate to play with him on the national team first. I talked to him about that, and he told me that staying home is only good for yourself and to play at home for the national team and to play a lot of minutes. You develop more. That was actually a huge help for me, and I felt like I was more ready when I came over here.”

…

“He kind of explained how things work over here, so that was really helpful for me, and I’m happy that I made that decision. … You see a lot of players come over maybe too early. They force their way into the NHL, and maybe things don’t go the way they like it right away. For me, that was my best choice to stay home an extra year.”

Backstrom also has a soft spot for kids and appeared happy to interact with another tiny Swede.

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