Lars Molin (ice hockey)

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Lars Molin
Born (1956-05-07) 7 May 1956 (age 68)
Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Left
Played for Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Modo Hockey (SEL)
Örebro HK (SEL)
National teamFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 19741991

Lars-Erik Molin (born 7 May 1956) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey centre. He spent 3 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks between 1981 and 1984 and spent the majority of his career with Modo Hockey in the Swedish Elitserien. Many of his finest accomplishments came for Team Sweden in international play, as he helped his country to several medal finishes at both the Winter Olympics and World Championships during the 1980s.

Contents

Playing career

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid Ice hockey
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1988 Calgary Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1987 Austria Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1981 Sweden Team

A skilled playmaking forward who was strong on both the powerplay and penalty kill, Molin broke into the Modo senior squad in 1974–75 at the age of 18. Over the next few seasons, he emerged as one of the club's top two-way players, culminating in his selection to play for Sweden at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. At the Olympics, he was one of Sweden's top players, scoring 7 points in 7 games to help the team to a bronze medal. After another strong season with Modo the following year, Molin was signed by the Vancouver Canucks in 1981 to try his luck in the NHL, joining former Modo teammates Thomas Gradin and Lars Lindgren who were already established at the club.

Fresh off representing Sweden in the 1981 Canada Cup, Molin had a strong rookie season in Vancouver in 1981–82, scoring 15 goals and 46 points in 72 games to finish 6th in club scoring. In the playoffs, he fared even better, notching 11 points in 17 games in helping the Canucks in their run to the Stanley Cup finals.

Molin continued his solid play the following year, notching 12 goals and 39 points in 58 games. However, by 1983–84, he had become a fringe member of the squad and slumped to 6 goals and 13 points in only 42 appearances.

His NHL options at an end, Molin returned to Modo for 1984–85, and turned in the highest-scoring season of his Swedish league career, posting 57 points in just 32 games. He continued his strong play with the club for the next few seasons and experienced another career highlight when he helped Sweden to a Gold Medal performance at the 1987 World Championships. He would also help Sweden to another bronze in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Now well into his 30s, Molin left Modo in 1988 and dropped down to the Swedish 2nd division with Örebro IK, where he spent the final 3 seasons of his career before retiring in 1991.

In 172 NHL appearances, Molin scored 33 goals and added 65 assists for 98 points. In 11 seasons in the top Swedish division with Modo, he added 142 goals and 142 assists for 284 points in 335 appearances.

Following his career, Molin moved into coaching, with stints at IF Björklöven and Timrå IK.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

   Regular season   Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
1973–74 Modo AIK SWE 40000
1974–75 Modo AIKSWE50000
1975–76 Modo AIK SEL 331271922
1976–77 Modo AIKSEL361811292041122
1977–78 Modo AIKSEL361510252421010
1978–79 Modo AIKSEL361316291863146
1979–80 Modo AIKSEL361282034
1980–81 Modo AIKSEL3017133030
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks NHL 72154661101729117
1982–83 Vancouver CanucksNHL5812273923
1983–84 Vancouver CanucksNHL426713420000
1984–85 Modo AIK SWE II 3231265722
1985–86 Modo AIKSEL3419193824
1986–87 Modo AIKSEL348162442
1987–88 Modo AIKSEL2477145441012
1988–89 Örebro IK SWE II33112132681037102
1989–90 Örebro IKSWE II302342653062684
1990–91 Örebro IKSWE II301624402820002
SEL totals2991211072282681662810
NHL totals1723380113371929117
SWE II totals1257112319414818513188

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1976 Sweden WJC 42022
1980 Sweden OG 72572
1981 Sweden WC 82354
1981 Sweden CC 52240
1985 SwedenWC51232
1987 SwedenWC91128
1988 SwedenOG70222
Senior totals418152318