(CNN) Before winning the world title and playing in the NHL, before Stanley Cups and All-Star games, Filip Forsberg had a stick, some skates and a rudimentary ice rink outside his school.

Back in Leksand in his native Sweden, the daily routine was simple -- head to class clutching your skates, then hit the rink the minute school ended.

If the rink wasn't available, Forsberg and his crew would find a spot to play in the street, break as soon as dinner was ready, and then head straight back out afterwards to play until it got dark.

"Sometimes, it was probably minus 20 (Celsius), but we didn't care," Forsberg, who plays for the Nashville Predators, told CNN. "We just wanted to play.

"Me and my brother, all our friends just playing, it didn't matter if you were good or bad, everybody could play, everybody could come."

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