Pelle Eklund

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Pelle Eklund
Pelle Eklund, 2013a.JPG
Pelle Eklund in 2013.
Born (1963-03-22) 22 March 1963 (age 62)
Solna, Sweden
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Winger
Shot Left
Played for AIK
Leksands IF
Philadelphia Flyers
Dallas Stars
National teamFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
NHL draft 161st overall, 1983
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 19811999

Per-Erik "Pelle" Eklund (born 22 March 1963) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger. He played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars from 1985 to 1994 and nine seasons in the Swedish Elitserien (SEL) with AIK and Leksands IF from 1981 to 1985 and 1994 to 1999. Internationally Eklund played for the Swedish national team at several World Championships, winning gold in 1991 and silver in both 1990 and 1995, and the 1984 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal.

Contents

Playing career

Eklund played as a Bantam for Stocksund in team 63 where he was the captain of the team. Eklund played for AIK of the Elitserien between 1981 and 1985, winning the league championship in 1984. He won the Golden Puck as Sweden's top player in 1984 at the age of 21. He came to the NHL in 1985, joining the Philadelphia Flyers who had selected him 161st overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. He led all rookies in assists with 51 and finishing third in overall rookie scoring (behind Kjell Dahlin and Gary Suter) in the 1985–86 season.

Over the next nine seasons, Eklund topped the 50 assist mark on three occasions. In the 1987 playoffs, he helped carry Philadelphia to the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, as his 27 points were fourth in overall scoring and his 20 assists were second to only Wayne Gretzky. Eklund recorded only one goal and 18 points in 48 games for the Flyers during 1993–94 season. At the trade deadline, he was dealt to the Dallas Stars, where he had a brief stint to finish his NHL career. Eklund then returned to Sweden to play for Leksands IF for the 1994–95 season. He led the SEL in assists and points and was named league MVP. He played four more seasons for Leksand before retiring in 1999 at age 36.

In 2005–2006, he served as an assistant coach for Leksand. He served as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens until fired on 31 May 2010. [1] Currently he is an amateur scout with the Edmonton Oilers.

International

Medal record
Representing Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
Olympics
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1984 Sarajevo
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991 Finland
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1995 Sweden
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1990 Switzerland
European Junior Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1981 Soviet Union

Eklund played 126 international games for the Swedish national team. He played in six World Championships and was on the gold medal Swedish team of 1991. He played in the 1984 Winter Olympics on the bronze medal team and in the 1984 Canada Cup, in which Sweden made the finals. He was also on the European Championships gold-medal team in 1990.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
1978–79 Stocksunds IF SWE-3 1202
1979–80Stocksunds IFSWE-3178210
1980–81Stocksunds IFSWE-319132033
1981–82 AIK SWE 232242
1982–83 AIKSWE341317301431452
1983–84 AIKSWE359182724667132
1984–85 AIKSWE3516334910
1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 701551661250220
1986–87 Philadelphia FlyersNHL72144155226720272
1987–88 Philadelphia FlyersNHL71103242127030
1988–89 Philadelphia FlyersNHL79185169231938112
1989–90 Philadelphia FlyersNHL7023396216
1990–91 Philadelphia FlyersNHL7319506914
1991–92 Philadelphia FlyersNHL51716234
1992–93 Philadelphia FlyersNHL5511384916
1993–94 Philadelphia FlyersNHL48116178
1993–94 Dallas Stars NHL213290334
1994–95 Leksands IF SWE321336491220110
1995–96 Leksands IFSWE3061723641012
1996–97 Leksands IFSWE36616221092574
1997–98 Leksands IFSWE38818261841012
1998–99 Leksands IFSWE37817251041234
SWE totals300811742551063212193116
NHL totals594120335455109661036468

International

YearTeamEventGPGAPtsPIM
1981 Sweden EJC 50004
1982 Sweden WJC 61342
1983 SwedenWJC75162
1984 Sweden OLY 72680
1984 Sweden CC 81120
1985 Sweden WC 102462
1986 SwedenWC41124
1990 SwedenWC101784
1991 SwedenWC101342
1995 SwedenWC81230
1996 SwedenWC60334
Junior totals1864108
Senior totals639273616

Awards

References

  1. Uffe Bodin (1 June 2010). "Svensken får lämna Montréa" (in Swedish). Hockeysverige. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
Preceded by Guldpucken
1984
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy
1991
Succeeded by