The year is 1994. Location is Lillehammer, Norway. Shooting and sudden death in the Olympic hockey final. As the crowd roars, Peter Forsberg on the opposite blue line stares down Canada's goalkeeper, Corey Hirsch. Forsberg slides and goes to Hirsch's right. Then he one-handedly moves the puck to Hirsch's left and slides the puck under his glove hand and scores! When Paul Kariya failed to answer the Swedish goalkeeper Tommy Salo, the gold medal was awarded for the first time by Sweden.
An international hockey star was born.
Although drafted several years earlier in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 6th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers, Forsberg was to play a game in the NHL. He had decided to stay in Sweden and play for his hometown team, MODO Hockey of the Swedish Elite League (SEL), or Elitserien as it is collectively known.
The pick surprised many in the hockey media, especially in Philadelphia, as Forsberg was ranked as the 25th best player in the draft and was projected to be a strong second-round pick. The Philadelphia Flyers' general manager at the time, Russ Farwell, and the team's chief European scout both defended the pick and said time would prove them right.
In the 1992 draft, Forsberg's rights were traded by the Philadelphia Flyers, arguably the biggest trade in NHL history – a massive package of five players, two draft picks and $15 million sent to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Eric Lindros. Forsberg didn't know it at the time, but this would end up being the best situation of his NHL career.
Personal life and early acting career
Forsberg was born on July 20, 1973, in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. He started playing hockey at the age of 5 on a team where almost all the players were at least 3 years older than him.
He is the son of Kent Forsberg, who would end up coaching Peter for most of his playing time in his country. The two teamed up from 1991 to 1994 in MODO, then on the national team at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, then the 1998 Olympic ice hockey tournament and the 1998 World Championship, which Sweden won.
He made his professional hockey debut in the 1989-1990 season. He started the season with the minor team MODO but played one game with the senior team SEL, recording an assist in his only game.
In the following season, he will collect 102 points in 39 games with a small team and 17 points in 23 games with a big team. In the next four seasons, he scored 133 points in 128 games in the SEL and during this time he was widely considered the best hockey player outside the NHL.
The Beginning of His NHL Career
Forsberg made his NHL debut during the shortstop of the 1994-95 season. Ironically, his first preseason game will be against Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers. While Quebec lost a game full of penalties (144 minutes in total), Forsberg had a goal and an assist. He won the Calder Trophy at the end of the season as the premier NHL rookie.
Before the start of the 1995-96 season, the Quebec Nordiques were sold to COMSAT Entertainment Group. The team would be relocated to Denver and later named the Colorado Avalanche.
Forsberg's NHL Peak
The first season in Denver will be the best for Forsberg's statistics, finishing the regular season with 116 points – including 86 assists. He would add another 21 points to the Avalanche's 22 playoff games.
This team included several great hockey players in the likes of Joe Sakic, Claude Lemieux, Valeri Kamensky, Adam Deadmarsh, Mike Ricci (also acquired in the Eric Lindros trade) and, perhaps most importantly, goaltender Patrick Roy. In addition to Forsberg's best season, the team won its first Stanley Cup championship by sweeping the Florida Panthers in four straight.
Over the next four seasons, he was one of the NHL's leading scorers with 325 points in 264 games.
In 2001, the Avalanche would go on to win their second Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, Forsberg was unable to participate in the Stanley Cup finals as he needed to have his spleen removed after the 2nd round series against the Los Angeles Kings. He sat out the following season to recover. However, he would return to the playoffs and lead the team in scoring with 27 points in 20 games, and the Avalanche would eventually lose to the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals.
In the 2002-2003 season, Forsberg would go on to have his best season since the team's first in Denver, and led the league with 106 points, 77 assists and a plus-52 average. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer and the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP. Unfortunately, however, the days of the Avalanche playing deep in the playoffs were over.
The 2004-05 Lockout and Philadelphia
Forsberg returned to MODO for the 2004-2005 season, signing a one-year contract before the NHL confirmed that the lockout would cancel their season. He was also coached by his father and had the opportunity to play with his best friend Markus Naslund, as well as rising stars Henrik and Daniel Sedin. However, his season was cut short due to injuries – something that had become a regular occurrence.
When the NHL returned for the 2005-06 season, Forsberg was one of the many victims of the newly implemented salary freeze. The Avalanche were one of the biggest spenders in the league and would not be able to re-sign him to a new contract. He signed with the team that drafted him in 1991, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Forsberg would play parts of two injury-shortened seasons with Philadelphia, most of those games missed as a result of persistent foot problems. In his first season, he will form one of the best lines in the league with Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble, scoring 75 points in 60 games.
Before his second season with Philadelphia, Forsberg will undergo surgery to help correct issues with his feet. He had to have surgery on each foot and was out until January. However, he avoided surgery on one foot and returned early in the season.
Leaving Philly, Brief Stay in Nashville, Returning to Colorado
In his second season with Philadelphia, the organization decided to rely more on young players such as Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and RJ Umberger. The inexperience combined with Forsberg missing most of the season due to his lingering foot issues, would ultimately end up seeing the worst season in franchise history.
The Flyers decided it was time to rebuild and with free agency approaching, Forsberg was traded to the Nashville Predators near the trade deadline. The Predators would end up losing in the first round of the playoffs. In the regular season and playoffs combined, Forberg produced four goals, 15 assists and 19 points in 22 games as a Predator.
On March 4, 2008, he returned to the Colorado Avalanche to be part of the 2007-08 Stanley Cup shootout. Perhaps somewhat rejuvenated, he scored at a steady clip in nine regular season games with the team, including a goal and 13 assists. The Avalanche, however, would suffer a 2nd round loss to the Red Wings.
Opting to play parts of the next two seasons in his home country with MODO, he made his final (albeit brief) NHL stint in the 2010–11 season. He will play just two games for the Avs on Feb. 11 and 12, before deciding to call it a job.
In all, he scored 249 goals, 636 assists and 885 points in just 708 regular season games. Additionally, Forsberg went 64-107-171 in scoring in 151 NHL playoff games as well. In addition, he finished his playing career as a 2-time Stanley Cup champion, winner of the Calder, Art Ross and Hart Memorial trophies. Internationally, he received two Olympic gold medals, two World Championship gold medals and three silver medals.
Taking all that into consideration, combined with his almost international skill level, it was no surprise when Forsberg was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 2014. He goes down in history as one of the game's true legends.
Fun Facts About Peter Forsberg
- He started playing hockey to follow his older brother, Roger
- “Foppa” actually has no direct translation in Swedish
- The move he used during the 1994 Olympics, known to many (and in recent video games) as “The Forsberg Move,” was borrowed from Kent Nilsson, a former Calgary Flame who is also from Sweden.
- His foot problems stem in part from a birth defect because the ligaments that connect his feet to the ankle are very loose and loose (picture of a rubber band that doesn't retract when you stretch it) He first had surgery while with the Flyers to “strengthen. ” up the lines. In addition, Dr. Bertil Romanus, from Sweden, also said that this problem caused the imbalance of the muscles in the foot. The muscle on one side of his foot is not working normally because the muscle on the other side has caused an imbalance. This imbalance causes pain and inflammation when putting pressure on the foot, the type of pressure needed to slide. Regardless of whether his skate is properly fitted to his foot, the foot will tend to roll inside the skate boot as if he were wearing skates several sizes too big. He said the problem does not stop him from walking or running.
- He has tried many different supports and custom-designed braces to help stabilize the foot. He even wore a battery pack when he returned with the Avalanche in 2008 that was supposed to regenerate the muscles in his feet.
I believe I can speak for all hockey fans when I say that I hope he still has a chance to play in the NHL again, but if he doesn't, he definitely gave us a lot of great memories.
Sign up for our NHL Substack newsletter
Source link
