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Peter Forsberg

Encyclopedia : P : PE : PET : Peter Forsberg

[Peter Mattias "Foppa" Forsberg] ([Media helphelp]·[info]) (born July 20 1973 in Örnsköldsvik, Västernorrlands län, Sweden) is a professional ice hockey player from Sweden. He is currently a center for the Philadelphia Flyers, an NHL franchise. Forsberg is 6'0" in height, and 205 pounds in weight. His father, Kent Forsberg, is a former manager for MoDo Hockey and the Swedish National Team. Peter played for MoDo in the NHL-lockout season.

Contents

Playing career

Peter 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 twice, and he is currently only 32 years of age. He played for his hometown team MoDo Hockey in Sweden during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, before that he was one of the top players in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche. He planned his return to his homeland even before the current 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. 
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Peter Forsberg has been 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.

Forsberg is recognized as one of the NHL's top players both offensively and defensively, and thus as one of the top stars in the league. He is especially noted for his incredible strength on his skates and how difficult it can be to knock him down. This tenacity is contrasted by Forsberg's tendency, especially in his younger years, to take dives when facing physical players (earning him the nickname "Floppa".) His greatest weakness is a tendency to get injured. He has not played a full NHL season since the 1995-1996 season, and he missed the entire 2001-2002 regular season due to a variety of injuries. In addition, it was announced in May 2006, Forsberg was originally to have surgery to correct a condition in both his feet, and would be out of action until approximately January 2007, however recently it was discovered he won't need a second surgery and will be back in the lineup possibly as early as the start of the season in October 2006. 

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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. 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. Indeed, many have suggested that Forsberg, by himself, has had a better, more valuable career than Eric Lindros, and so this trade is frequently listed as one of the all-time most lopsided deals in NHL history.

Forsberg remained in Sweden, playing for MoDo for the next 2 years, where he starred. 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. 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. Forsberg's famous move on Canadian goaltender Corey Hirsch has become so iconic in hockey that efforts to reproduce it inevitably draw references to Forsberg from hockey commentators.

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Forsberg first played in the NHL in the 1994-1995 season. He was an instant success, scoring 50 points in the strike-shortened season, and winning the Calder Trophy. In 1995, the Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. Forsberg played a large role in the team's success 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.

Forsberg continued to star in the league, although the Avalanche failed to win the cup again in their next few tries. In 1999, he led all players in scoring in the playoffs, but the Avalanche were defeated by the Dallas Stars, who would go on to win their first Stanley Cup. Defeat came again in 2000, despite the acquisition of Ray Bourque. However, in 2001, the Avalanche would win their second Stanley Cup. This victory was somewhat bittersweet for Forsberg, though. After the Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the playoffs, Forsberg had to have his spleen removed and would 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.

2002-2003 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. Despite this regular-season glory, the Avalanche lost to the underdog Minnesota Wild in the playoffs.

Forsberg is well-known in Sweden by the nickname "Foppa" (like many other Forsbergs).

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Records

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).

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990-91 MODO Hockey Elitserien 23 7 10 17 22 - - - - -
1991-92 MODO Hockey Elitserien 39 9 19 28 78 - - - - -
1992-93 MODO Hockey Elitserien 39 23 24 47 92 3 4 1 6 0
1993-94 MODO Hockey Elitserien 39 18 26 44 82 11 9 7 16 14
1994-95 MODO Hockey Elitserien 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 Elitserien 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 638 235 580 815 588 139 61 101 162 135

Stats as of April 23, 2006.

International play

See also

External link

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