Peter Forsberg

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Position	Center
Shoots	Left
Nickname	Foppa Peter the Great
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
NHL Team F. Teams	Nashville Predators Philadelphia Flyers Colorado Avalanche Quebec Nordiques
Nationality	Sweden
Born	July 20, 1973, Örnsköldsvik, SWE
NHL Draft	6th overall, 1991 Philadelphia Flyers
Pro Career	1990 – present

Peter Mattias Forsberg (help·info) (born July 20, 1973, in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a professional Swedish ice hockey player currently playing center for the Nashville Predators.^[1] Forsberg is one of the most recognized faces in Sweden and in hockey. He is the only Swedish hockey player to win the Stanley Cup, the World Championship and Olympic hockey gold on two occasions, making him a member of the Triple Gold Club, twice.^[2] His father, Kent Forsberg, is a former manager for MoDo Hockey and the Swedish national team.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Awards 3 Records 4 Career statistics 5 International play 5.1 International statistics 6 Trivia 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Playing career

From a young age, Forsberg was recognized as a top athlete. At age 15, Swedish hockey officials made a video of Forsberg, showing off his superior agility and vertical leap.^{[citation needed]} He played junior hockey with MoDo Hockey, debuting in 1989. After playing 23 games with the senior club in 1991, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 6th pick of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

The first pick of that same draft, Eric Lindros would be permanently connected to Forsberg when, with Eric having refused to sign with the Quebec Nordiques, they traded him, on June 30, 1992. The Nordiques gave Lindros to the Flyers in exchange for Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, two first round draft picks, and $15,000,000 cash. Many consider this trade to be the foundation of the Nordiques-turned-Colorado Avalanche's pair of Stanley Cup-winning teams.^{[citation needed]}

Forsberg remained in Sweden, playing for MoDo for the next 2 years. 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 only hockey player so far to be placed on a Swedish stamp.^[3] Forsberg's famous move on Canadian goaltender Corey Hirsch (who refused to be shown on the stamp) has become so iconic in hockey that efforts to reproduce it inevitably draw references to Forsberg from hockey commentators.^{[citation needed]}

Forsberg first played in the NHL in the 1994-95 season. He scored 50 points in the strike-shortened season and won the Calder Trophy. In 1995, the Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. In their first year in Denver, he scored 116 points in the regular season, and 21 points in 22 games during the playoffs, helping the Avalanche defeat the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup.

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 Stanley Cup 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, and was rewarded with the Hart Trophy. The Avalanche lost to the underdog Minnesota Wild in the playoffs.

He played for his hometown team MoDo Hockey in Sweden during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. He planned his return to his homeland even before the NHL labor dispute turned into a full-fledged lockout. When the NHL resolved its labor dispute he ended up signing with the Philadelphia Flyers for 11.7 million dollars over two years, turning down an offer of 13.5 million dollars over four years to play with the Colorado Avalanche.^[3]

Forsberg was named the World Hockey Player of the Year for 2005 according to Pro Hockey, a National Hockey League publication based in Europe. The award was decided by a jury of 15 international hockey journalists and players, which presents a top-100 list of the world's best players at the end of every year. In 2006 Forsberg was named the 9th best player in the world by the same magazine.^{[citation needed]}

On September 14, 2006, Forsberg became the 15th Captain in team history. He was named the Captain by the Flyers organization after Keith Primeau announced his retirement from hockey earlier in the day.

Forsberg is (like many other Forsbergs) well-known in Sweden by the nickname "Foppa", which contrary to popular belief does not have any definite meaning like "puck wizard", but is just a Swedish hypocoristic of his last name.

During the 2006-07 season Forsberg had several discussions with the Flyer's management but refused to sign a new contract claiming that he wasn't sure that he would continue playing hockey the next season.

He maintained that he would evaluate the situation the next summer, when he also would become a free agent, and would not sign or even ponder any contracts until then.

On February 15, 2007, Forsberg was traded to the Nashville Predators, for Ryan Parent, Scottie Upshall, a first-round pick and third round draft pick in the 2007 Entry Draft.

[edit] Awards

• Gold Medal at the World Championships in 1992 and 1998.
• Silver Medal at the World Championships in 1993, 2003 and 2004.
• Gold Medal at the Winter Olympics in 1994 and 2006.
• Named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1995.
• Awarded the Calder Trophy in 1995.
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003.
• Stanley Cup winner with Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001.
• Awarded the Viking Award (Best Swede in NHL) in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2003.
• Bronze Medal at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.
• Named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1998 and 1999.
• Awarded the Bud Light Plus/Minus Award (shared with Milan Hejduk) in 2003.
• Awarded the Hart Trophy in 2003.
• Awarded the Art Ross Trophy in 2003.
• Awarded the Yanick Dupre Memorial in 2006.

[edit] Records

• 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).

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990-91	MODO Hockey	SEL		23	7	10	17	22		--	--	--	--	--
1991-92	MODO Hockey	SEL		39	9	19	28	78		--	--	--	--	--
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	4
NHL totals				640	235	581	816	590		139	61	101	162	137

[edit] International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Gold	2006 Torino	Ice hockey
Gold	1994 Lillehammer	Ice hockey
World Cup
Bronze	1996	Team
World Championships
Silver	2004	Team
Silver	2003	Team
Gold	1998	Team
Silver	1993	Team
Gold	1992	Team

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)

[edit] International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991	Sweden	EJC	6	5	12	17	16
1991	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	Oly	6	0	6	6	0
Junior int'l totals			20	15	44	59	54
Senior int'l totals			59	20	36	56	44

[edit] Trivia

• Interested in harness racing, and owns or has owned a few racing horses during the years, including Tsar d' Inverne and Adrian Chip.^{[citation needed]}
• Has invested money in a golf course named Veckefjärdens Golf Club in his native Örnsköldsvik.^{[citation needed]}
• Considers Trocadero his favorite soft drink.^{[citation needed]}
• Owns a company that imports and markets Crocs shoes in his native Sweden.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stats at Internet Hockey Database
• Profile at Legends of Hockey

Preceded by Tommy Sjodin	Golden Puck 1993, 1994	Succeeded by Tomas Jonsson
Preceded by Martin Brodeur	Winner of the Calder Trophy 1995	Succeeded by Daniel Alfredsson
Preceded by Chris Chelios	Co-winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award (with Milan Hejduk) 2003	Succeeded by Martin St. Louis and Marek Malik
Preceded by Jose Theodore	Winner of the Hart Trophy 2003	Succeeded by Martin St. Louis
Preceded by Jarome Iginla	Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 2003	Succeeded by Martin St. Louis
Preceded by Keith Primeau Derian Hatcher*	Philadelphia Flyers captains 2006-07	Succeeded by currently vacant
Preceded by John Vanbiesbrouck	EA Sports NHL Cover Athlete NHL '98	Succeeded by Eric Lindros

* - Hatcher served as interim captain during the 2nd half of the 2005-06 season due to Primeau's absence from injury.