FAMILY VALUES

Robert Nilsson was born on January 10, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Kent and Berit. His father Kent is a former NHL forward and played in 553 games over the course of ten seasons with the Atlanta/Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers. Robert has a brother, Anders, and a sister, Helen. They grew up in Stockholm, Sweden.

Robert has been dating his girlfriend My for six months. They met through friends back in Sweden. He currently shares a home with teammate Petteri Nokelainen in Point Lookout.

ROBERT'S FAVORITE THINGS

Player growing up: Kristian Huselius

Team growing up: Calgary Flames

Food: Pizza

Drink: Milk and Coke

Restaurant: Morton's

Type of music: Techno

Band: DJ Tiesto

TV show: Friends

Movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Brand of stick: CCM

Skates: CCM

Gloves: Reebok

Car: Ferrari

Vacation: Bahamas

Book: "Da Vinci Code"

Spot on Long Island: Point Lookout

Most goals scored in a game? 15 or 16 back in Stockholm when I was 12 or 13

THE POP CULTURE CHALLENGE:

Soccer, football or Table Tennis? Soccer

Game on the line? Shootout? What goalie do you not want to face? I don't fear anyone

How many times have you seen the "American Pie" movies? Too many

Left or right skate on first? It doesn't matter

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

"The OC" or "Laguna Beach"? Neither

Stadium food? Ice Cream

Ever purchased an SI Swimsuit magazine? Nope

Miss the red line? Never played with it

Likes shootouts? Oh yeah

PowerAde or Gatorade? Neither

Blue or Orange? Blue

What do you like on top of your Pizza? Pepperoni

What new rule would you get rid of? I like them all

Do you play Madden football? No

Homer Simpson or Fred Flintstone? Fred Flintstone

Mets or Yankees? Yankees

ONE-ON-ONE

NYI: Congrats on your first NHL goal.
RN: Thank you. It was fun.

NYI: What was it like burying your first tally?
RN: It was awesome. Great emotions.

NYI: So, where's the puck?
RN: It's somewhere in my house. I don't remember where I put. I'll find it.

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NYI: What's the biggest difference playing in North America in comparison to Europe?
RN: Definitely the smaller rinks.

NYI: Does it affect your game at all?
RN: No, not really.

NYI: So, do you like it?
RN: Oh yeah. It's faster. You have to think more and it's more fun.

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NYI: When did you decide to come over to North America to play?
RN: It was a couple of weeks before the season started and a few weeks after the lockout ended.

NYI: What was your thought process through it?
RN: Well, I didn't have much time to think about it. I was in Ottawa playing in a tournament and Mike Milbury called me asking me if I wanted to play here.

NYI: Are you happy with your decision?
RN: Oh yeah, no doubt.

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NYI: Your father played in the NHL. Did he give you any advice before you came over?
RN: He just told me to shoot a lot [laughs].