(born
July 20,
1973, in
Örnsköldsvik,
Sweden) is a
Swedish professional
ice hockey player who is currently a
free agent.
His 17-year professional career includes 11 years in the
National Hockey League (NHL), where he won two Stanley Cups and numerous individual honors. Internationally, with the
Swedish national men's ice hockey team, he won two
World Championships and two
Olympic hockey gold medals. He is a member of the
Triple Gold Club and the only Swede of the three players who have won the three competitions twice.
[1] As of the end of the
2006–07, he was the second-highest all-time Swedish point scorer in the NHL regular season.
[2]
He played most of his career with
National Hockey League's (NHL)
Colorado Avalanche and
Elitserien's
MODO Hockey, his hometown club.
Early and personal life
Peter Forsberg is the son of
Kent Forsberg, former coach for
MODO Hockey and the
Swedish national team. Peter Forsberg was coached by his father from 1991 to 1994 in MODO Hockey and in the national team in the
1996 World Cup of Hockey, the
1998 Olympic ice hockey tournament and the
1998 World Championship, which Sweden won. Together, they own a Swedish development company named Forspro Company. The company co-funded the
MoDo Hockey team's new Swedbank Arena in Örnsköldsvik.
[3]
★ Owns a company - Pforce AB - that imports and markets
Crocs shoes in his native Sweden since 2005.
[4]
★ Interested in
harness racing, and owns or has owned a few racing horses during the years, including ''Tsar d' Inverne'' and ''Adrian Chip''.
★ Has invested money in a golf course named
Veckefjärdens Golf Club in his native Örnsköldsvik.
[5]
Together with
Markus Naslund, has founded Icebreakers, an organization that gets together professional ice hockey players for exhibition games to raise money for charities.
[6]
Forsberg's idol while growing up was
HÃ¥kan Loob.
[7]
Playing career
1989–1994
Forsberg debuted in 1989 with the junior squad of
MODO Hockey, the club of his hometown
Örnsköldsvik. During the course of the season he debuted with the senior team that played in the
Elitserien, the highest-level professional ice hockey league in
Sweden, and scored an assist on his only game. In 1990–91, he scored 102 points in 39 games with the junior team and 17 points in 23 games with the senior team.
At the end of the season, Forsberg was drafted by the
Philadelphia Flyers with the 6th pick overall of the
1991 NHL Entry Draft. The draft pick was surprising as Forsberg was expected to be selected later in the draft.
The Hockey News had ranked Forsberg as the 25th best draft prospect in its 1991 draft preview, saying he was a "a solid second rounder who could move into the first". The pick was criticized by the Philadelphia media and Flyers' General Manager
Russ Farwell and the team's chief European scout replied that time would prove them right.
[8]
Eric Lindros was the main attraction of the draft. He was drafted first overall by the
Quebec Nordiques but refused to sign a contract and, on advice from his mother, began a holdout that lasted over a year. On
June 30 1992, the NHL rights to Peter Forsberg were included in a deal that sent five players, two first round draft picks and US$15 million to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Eric Lindros.
[9] In hindsight, the Lindros trade is seen as one of the most one-sided deals in sports history,
[10] and a major foundation for the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise successes over the next decade.
[11]
Forsberg remained in Sweden, playing for MODO for the following three years. In 1993 the team was eliminated in the playoffs quarter finals against
Malmö and Forsberg won the
Golden Puck for best ice hockey player of the year in Sweden and the
Golden Helmet for most valuable player of the Elitserien elected by the players.
[12] He won both prizes again in 1994, when, after barely making the playoffs, he led his team to their first final since winning the Elitserien in 1979.
In a five game series again against Malmö, Forsberg scored in overtime in game two to put his team one win away from the title. However, he suffered
flu and MODO lost the remaining games of the series and the title.
[13] By this point, Forsberg was thought to be the best player of the world not playing in the NHL.
[14]
Forsberg had decided he would be moving to the NHL on the summer of the 1994 season after having signed a contract with the Quebec Nordiques on October 1993. The contract was a four year deal, $6.5 million deal, including $4.275 million given as a signing bonus.
[15][16] However, a
lockout delayed his NHL debut to 1995 and Forsberg returned to MODO to play 11 more games before going back to North America.
1995-2004
After the
lockout end, the
1994–95 NHL season began on
21 January 1995. That was the day Forsberg made his NHL debut against the
Philadelphia Flyers. He scored an assist. His first NHL goal came six days later against the
Buffalo Sabres. His rookie season in the NHL was very good — Forsberg was able to combine a good offensive performance with responsibility in defense as well as physical play.
[17] He scored 50 points in 47 games (15 goals and 35 assists), including a 14 game run in which he scored 26 points,
and was second in scoring in his team, behind
Joe Sakic. He missed only one game, due to
flu.
[18] The Nordiques won the
Northeast Division and had the second best record of the regular season but lost in the first playoff round against the
New York Rangers. At the end of the season, Forsberg won the
Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year and was elected to the
NHL All-Rookie Team.
On
1 July 1995 it became official that Nordiques' owner
Marcel Aubut had sold the team to the COMSAT Entertainment Group, that moved the team to
Denver, Colorado.
[19] The franchise was presented as the Colorado Avalanche on
August 10 1995.
Forsberg was part of a team that included
center and
captain Joe Sakic, defenseman
Adam Foote and to which
Vezina and
Conn Smythe Trophy winner
Patrick Roy would soon join. In its first year in Denver, the Avalanche won the
Stanley Cup after finishing the regular season with the second best record and winning the
Pacific Division. Forsberg scored 116 points in the regular season (30 goals and 86 assists), and 21 in the playoffs (10 goals and 11 assists), finishing second best in team and fifth overall in the league in both parts of the season. During game two of the Stanley Cup Final against the
Florida Panthers, Forsberg scored three goals in a period and became the sixth player in NHL history to do so.
[20] Not only the
1995–96 NHL season was Forsberg's highest scoring, it would be the only NHL season in which he played all his team's games.
In the
1996–97 season, Forsberg only played 65 regular season games and 14 of Colorado's 17 playoff games due to a
bruised
thigh.
Still, he scored 28 goals and 58 assists for 86 points as Colorado earned its first
Presidents Trophy and the third consecutive division title for the franchise. On
March 16 1997, Forsberg had his only fight in NHL games against
Detroit Red Wings player
Martin Lapointe.
[21] The fight occurred 10 days before the famous
Red Wings-Avalanche brawl. In the playoffs, Colorado lost in the Conference Finals against Detroit; Forsberg scored 17 points (5 goals and 12 assists).
In
2001, the Avalanche won their second Stanley Cup. After the Avalanche defeated the
Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the playoffs, Forsberg had to have his spleen removed and did not play again in the playoffs. He decided to take the entire next season off to recuperate, and only returned for the playoffs, which he again led in scoring with 27 points, but again with his team losing before the Western Conference Finals, this time to the
Detroit Red Wings.
2002-03 was a banner year for Forsberg. Much healthier and more rested than he had been in the previous few years, he went on to lead the league with 106 points, for which he was awarded the
Art Ross Trophy, as well as the
Hart Trophy for league MVP. The Avalanche lost to the underdog
Minnesota Wild in the playoffs.
2004-present
Peter Forsberg returned to
MODO Hockey during the
2004-05 NHL lockout. He had signed a one-year contract even before the confirmation of the cancellation of the
2004-05 NHL season.
[22] Coached by his father
and together with NHL players
Henrik and
Daniel Sedin and
Markus Näslund,
[23] Forsberg played only 33 of MODO's 50 regular season games because of surgery he had after dislocating his left wrist and breaking a bone in the hand.
[24] He scored 39 points (13 goals and 26 assists) and finished eleventh in the scoring leaders race, tied with the eighth.
[25] MODO finished sixth in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs against
Färjestads BK in a six game series in which Forsberg only played one game.
After the end of the season and with the return of the NHL, Forsberg returned to North America. The implementation of a salary cap was a blow to the
Colorado Avalanche, one of the highest spenders of the league,
[26] who were forced to let go of Forsberg and
Adam Foote to save room in the cap for
Joe Sakic and
Rob Blake.
[27] He refused a four-year, $13.5 million offer from the Avalanche before signing a two-year, $11.5 million contract with the
Philadelphia Flyers.
[28]
Before the season start, he had surgery to remove a
bursa sac from his right
ankle.
[29] He debuted with the Flyers on
October 5 in a game against the
New York Rangers. He scored two assists in his first game and 12 in his first six. Despite only playing 60 games, mostly because of a
groin injury,
[30] he scored 75 points (19 goals and 56 assists) and the Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs against the
Buffalo Sabres.
After the end of the season, he had surgery on his right ankle and foot to correct deformities because of an abnormal
arch that caused him to stretch his
ankle tendons.
[31] He was expected to have the same surgery done on his left foot and to be sidelined until January, but a doctor considered he did not need it and he was ready to play by the start of the
2006-07 NHL season.
[32]
On
September 14,
2006 Forsberg became the Flyers fifteenth captain in team history, after
Keith Primeau retired.
[33] The season was troubled for him: as the Flyers were having their worst season ever, Forsberg had not fully recovered from his right foot problems and had doubts about his future.
[34] With his contract ending at the end of the season and with no commitment on Forsberg's part to signing a new contract or to retire, on
February 15, 12 days before the
trade deadline, the Flyers traded him for the
Nashville Predators, in exchange for
Ryan Parent,
Scottie Upshall, and Nashville's first and third round pick at the
2007 NHL Entry Draft.
[35] The Predators "believed it [the deal] was a necessary ingredient to give us that much better a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup".
At the Predators' last regular season game, Forsberg returned to Denver for the first time since leaving the Colorado Avalanche. He assisted on
Paul Kariya's game winning goal that eliminated the chances the Avalanche had of progressing to the playoffs, the first time ever the team failed to do so.
[36] The Predators lost in the first round of the playoffs against the
San Jose Sharks, with Forsberg scoring four points in the five game series. Forsberg had an average of less than one point per game in the regular season for the first time in his career and for the second time in the playoffs.
Currently, Forsberg is an unrestricted
free agent and has not decided whether he'll return to the NHL or play in Sweden. He was submitted to a surgery on his foot and is waiting to see if he is in condition to play.
[37] He has said that in Europe, he would only play for
MODO Hockey, and in the NHL he would probably play for his former three clubs.
The
Ottawa Senators and the Vancouver Canucks, team of his friend and former teammate at MoDo
Markus Näslund, have expressed interest in him.
[38]
International play
Played for
Sweden in:
★
1992 World Championships (gold medal)
★
1993 World Championships (silver medal)
★
1994 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
★
1996 World Cup of Hockey (bronze medal)
★
1998 Winter Olympics
★
1998 World Championships (gold medal)
★
2003 World Championships (silver medal)
★
2004 World Cup of Hockey
★
2004 World Championships (silver medal)
★
2006 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
Peter Forsberg has played in 13 competitions for the
Swedish national men's hockey team senior team and three competitions as a junior. After debuting on the
European Junior Ice Hockey Championships in 1991 , he played in the
World Junior Championships in 1992 where scored 11 points in seven games as Sweden won silver medal. He became a World Champion in 1992, when Sweden won the
Ice Hockey World Championships. In 1994, he led the Swedes to a gold medal in the
Winter Olympics, scoring the winning goal of the penalty shootout that decided the gold medal game. Forsberg's "one hand, slide in" goal, a move which he borrowed from retired Swedish ice hockey player
Kent Nilsson, has become popular in today's NHL.
Dallas Stars forward
Jussi Jokinen is known for pulling off the move numerous times in a season; some hockey commentators call it "The Paralyzer" but Forsberg claims he has never heard it called that before. An image of Forsberg scoring this goal was later placed on a Swedish
postage stamp, making Peter the first hockey player to be placed on a Swedish stamp.
[39][40] The second player and so far only one but Forsberg to be printed on a Swedish postage stamp is
Toronto Maple Leafs captain
Mats Sundin.
[41] Forsberg's famous move on Canadian goaltender
Corey Hirsch (who refused to be shown on the stamp)
[42] has become so iconic in hockey that efforts to reproduce it inevitably draw references to Forsberg from hockey commentators.
Career statistics
As of the end of the 2006–07 NHL season.| | | Regular Season | | Playoffs |
|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | MODO Hockey Jr. | SWE Jr. | 30 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 42 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1989–90 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1990–91 | MODO Hockey Jr. | SWE Jr. | 39 | 38 | 64 | 102 | 56 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1990–91 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 23 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1991–92 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 39 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 78 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1992–93 | MODO Hockey Jr. | SWE Jr. | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1992–93 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 39 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 92 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 1993–94 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 39 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 82 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 14 |
| 1994–95 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 11 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1994–95 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 47 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 1995–96 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 82 | 30 | 86 | 116 | 47 | 22 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 18 |
| 1996–97 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 65 | 28 | 58 | 86 | 73 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 10 |
| 1997–98 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 72 | 25 | 66 | 91 | 94 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 12 |
| 1998–99 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 78 | 30 | 67 | 97 | 108 | 19 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 31 |
| 1999–00 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 49 | 14 | 37 | 51 | 52 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 12 |
| 2000–01 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 73 | 27 | 62 | 89 | 54 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| 2001–02 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 20 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 20 |
| 2002–03 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 75 | 29 | 77 | 106 | 70 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| 2003–04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 39 | 18 | 37 | 55 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 |
| 2004–05 | MODO Hockey | SEL | 33 | 13 | 26 | 39 | 88 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2005–06 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 60 | 19 | 56 | 75 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 2006–07 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 40 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 17 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| NHL totals | 697 | 248 | 623 | 871 | 678 | 144 | 63 | 103 | 166 | 149 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEL totals | 185 | 75 | 114 | 189 | 386 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 16 |
|---|---|---|
| SWE Jr. totals | 71 | 53 | 79 | 132 | 102 | | | | | |
|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Event | | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|
| 1991 | Sweden | EJC | 6 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 16 |
| 1992 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 30 |
| 1992 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 1993 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 8 |
| 1993 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 1994 | Sweden | Oly | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| 1996 | Sweden | WCup | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1998 | Sweden | Oly | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1998 | Sweden | WC | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| 2003 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| 2004 | Sweden | WC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2004 | Sweden | WCup | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 2006 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Senior Int'l Totals | 59 | 20 | 36 | 56 | 44 |
|---|
| Junior Int'l Totals | 20 | 15 | 44 | 59 | 54 |
|---|---|---|
Style of play
Peter Forsberg is a star forward, with "outstanding" playmaking skills and "great vision" and "possesses an excellent combination of skill and physical play".
He was once considered the best two-way player in the world.
[43] He is capable of combining physical play and hits with skill and is responsible offensively and defensively.
Said to have a "
Wayne Gretzky-like" passing touch,
he has been complimented for making the players around him better by journalists and players.
Injury proneness
Forsberg's style of play has led him to deal with several severe injuries. It has been said in the press that he is injury prone because he did not soften his game as he got older.
[45] In 12 seasons as an NHL player, Forsberg missed an entire regular season and played in less than 90% of regular season games in seven other seasons.
Legacy
By the end of the
2006-07 NHL season, Peter Forsberg was the second-highest all-time Swedish point scorer in the NHL regular season.
His jersey number, 21, has been retired by
MODO Hockey.
[46]
★ Forsberg at the 1993 World Junior Championship set an all time tournament record with 31 points in only seven games. Also, he ranks first in career points among tournament scorers with 42 points. (10 goals and 32 assists)
★ With his second Olympic Gold in 2006 he became the third player in history to have enough titles to join the
Triple Gold Club twice (the others being
Vyacheslav Fetisov and
Igor Larionov).
Awards
| Award | Year(s) |
|---|
Most Valuable Player | 1993, 1994 |
| Award | Year(s) |
|---|
| World Junior Championship A - All-Star Team | 1993 |
| World Junior Championship A - Best Forward | 1993 |
| World Championship A - All-Star Team | 1998 |
| World Championship A - Best Forward | 1998 |
Awards taken from NHL.com
References
Footnotes
1. Triple Gold Club
2. HHOF Records and Rankings -- Countries
3. Swedish Finals: Modo mines championship gold
4. Om Crocsâ„¢
5. Välkommen till FOPPALAND Andersson, Hasse
6. Star-studded Icebreakers play summer hockey for a cause
7. 1 on 1:Peter Forsberg
8. Small towns: Big Entry - Draft Legacies
9. Peter Forbserg profile
10. The List: Readers Pick Most Lopsided Trades
11. The trade that keeps giving
12. MoDo Hockey - Hockey factory
13. Finding Forsberg
14. No label for Forsberg, just greatness
15. The Cold Wars - Flashback
16. The young and the restless - hockey prospects
17. TSN's NHL awards - The Sporting News' 1995 hockey awards
18. Mamma Mia! If Colorado, last season's Stanley Cup winner, is going to take it all, they'll have to do it without Peter Forsberg, whose latest injury might just be the Avs' Waterloo
19. Miscellaneous/Community/Altitude
20. Forsberg rises for Avalanche
21. Peter Forsberg Fight Card
22. Forsberg says he'll play for Modo, even if lockout ends
23. Europe welcomes locked out NHL players
24. Broken hand sidelines Forsberg
25. Swedish Elitserien 2004-05
26. Winners, losers, undecided in wake of free-agent frenzy
27. Sakic, Blake to stay; Forsberg, Foote up in air
28. Flyers sign Forsberg to two-year deal
29. Forsberg Surgery Successful
30. Peter Forsberg profile
31. Forsberg surgery could keep him out until January
32. Forsberg could return for start of Flyers season
33. Peter Forsberg Named Flyers Captain
34. Future murky for Forsberg
35. Acquiring Forsberg 'a huge deal' for Preds
36. Predators 4, Avalanche 2
37. Finding what fits for Sutter, Yashin, Forsberg
38. Naslund attempting to recruit Forsberg
39. Flyers sign Forsberg to two-year deal
40. Stamp of Peter Forsberg at ''Postmuseum Online''
41. Stamp of Mats Sundin at ''Postmuseum Online''
42. Hirsch till Sverige
43. How could underdog Sweden win the Olympic title again? Let us count the ways
44. Recap - Predators 6, Kings 3
45. An early look at the top of next summer's free-agent market
46. Retired Jersey/Shirt Numbers
47. Forsberg Wins Yanick Dupre Memorial Class Guy Award
External links
★
★
★
★ - Hatcher served as interim captain during the 2nd half of the 2005-06 season due to Primeau's absence from injury.
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