This May, the hockey world was saddened by the passing of 31-year-old Norwegian player Alexander Reichenberg, and then saddened more when the cause of his death was revealed to be suicide. On Wednesday, Swedish media agency SportBladet published an interview with Reichenberg’s younger brother Elias, who is involved in a project together with The Zuccarello Foundation – established by Norwegian hockey star Mats Zuccarello – to raise money for a memorial fund in Alexander’s name.

“Of course I saw that there were periods when he didn’t feel so well,” said Elias. “But he kept a lot to himself and has also received help over the years, but the older he got, the harder it was for him to open up.

“The advice I have is to ask each other how you feel, really. And do activities together that don't involve alcohol. After 10 beers, you might ask how a guy is doing, but that doesn’t work. It’s better to do it at other times. Then I think we have to work even more to come up with a zero vision regarding suicide. It’s a widespread problem and society needs to get a firmer grip on it.”

Elias recalls that early in Alexander’s professional career, back in 2015, the elder Reichenberg moved from Lillehammer, his hometown club, to nearby rival Storhamar. Many Lillehammer fans didn’t take kindly to what they considered an act of betrayal.

“People wrote to him, sometimes at night, and people came forward who were physical with him,” Elias recalled. “Common sense is what counts, and maybe not all people had that when they treated my brother. Many fans behave well, but unfortunately not all.”

After Storhamar, Reichenberg played for Sparta Prague in Czechia, Färjestad BK in Sweden and the Graz 99ers in Austria before returning to Norway and settling back down in Lillehammer, where it seemed he would finish his career. However, Reichenberg posted a career-best total of 44 points last season, which suddenly created interest in him again and, Elias believes, made him anxious about leaving again.

“I know that clubs from abroad and Vålerenga (in Oslo) were interested in him. He probably didn’t like the pressure that a change of club could entail,” Elias figured.

Finally, Elias recounted hearing the terrible news.

“He was going to the floorball cup in Strömstad and needed to borrow things from me. But we didn’t hear from each other after Friday and when I got a call on Sunday that my mother needed to talk to me, I understood that something terrible had happened.”

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