Sam Lofquist

Sam Lofquist
Born	(1990-03-15) March 15, 1990 (age 35) Somerset, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
Liiga team Former teams	Kookoo Houston Aeros SaiPa Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod EHC Biel San Antonio Rampage Kunlun Red Star Linköping HC
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2011–present

Samuel Lofquist (born March 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing for Kookoo in the Finnish Liiga.

Playing career

Having attended the United States National U18 Team program, Lofquist enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 2008, left the Gophers in the course of his sophomore season ^[1] and then signed with the Guelph Storm Hockey Club of the Ontario Hockey League in November 2009. ^[2]

Following a short stint with the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) in 2011, he took up an offer from IK Oskarshamn of Sweden's second division Allsvenskan. ^[3] He stayed there until the end of the 2012–13 campaign, establishing himself as a defenseman with scoring ability and then was signed by fellow Allsvenskan team Djurgårdens IF for the 2013–14 season. ^[4]

Lofquist received a contract offer from SaiPa Lappeenranta of Finland's top-flight Liiga after having completed the season with Djurgårdens IF and would spend two years with SaiPa, competing both in Liiga and in the Champions Hockey League. ^[5]

In May 2016, Lofquist penned a deal with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for the 2016–17 season, registering 13 points in 43 games. ^[6]

After spending the 2017–18 season in Switzerland with EHC Biel of the National League, Lofquist opted to halt his 6-year European career and return to North America as a free agent.

On July 30, 2018, he agreed to a one-year AHL contract with the San Antonio Rampage, affiliate to the St. Louis Blues of the NHL. ^[7] In returning to the AHL for the first time in seven years, Lofquist began the 2018–19 season on the Rampage's blueline second-pairing. Appearing in just 9 games through December, Lofquist opted to leave the Rampage and return abroad after securing a contract for the remainder of the season with Chinese KHL participant, Kunlun Red Star on December 25, 2018. ^[8] Lofquist played out the remainder of the season with the Red Star, posting 11 points in just 18 games.

On May 1, 2019, Lofquist opted to continue in the KHL, agreeing to a two-year contract on the opening day of free agency with Russian club, HC Sibir Novosibirsk. ^[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2006–07	U.S. National Development Team	NAHL		47	8	6	14	86		6	1	0	1	22
2007–08	U.S. National Development Team	NAHL		14	4	2	6	10		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	U. of Minnesota	WCHA		35	1	3	4	10		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	U. of Minnesota	WCHA		3	0	0	0	6		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Guelph Storm	OHL		49	5	31	36	67		5	0	0	0	0
2010–11	Guelph Storm	OHL		62	8	28	36	57		6	3	5	8	0
2010–11	Houston Aeros	AHL		1	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	South Carolina Stingrays	ECHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	IK Oskarshamn	Allsv		41	7	10	17	42		6	0	3	3	2
2012–13	IK Oskarshamn	Allsv		52	13	12	25	64		6	2	2	4	6
2013–14	Djurgårdens IF	Allsv		51	6	18	24	38		3	0	0	0	0
2014–15	SaiPa	Liiga		59	9	19	28	57		6	3	0	3	4
2015–16	SaiPa	Liiga		58	10	17	27	59		6	0	1	1	2
2016–17	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	KHL		43	4	9	13	32		4	0	1	1	2
2017–18	EHC Biel	NL		24	4	9	13	16		5	1	4	5	10
2018–19	San Antonio Rampage	AHL		9	1	1	2	19		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Kunlun Red Star	KHL		18	3	8	11	16		—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	Linköping HC	SHL		33	7	9	16	68		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Kunlun Red Star	KHL		21	2	9	11	19		—	—	—	—
2020-21	SaiPa	Liiga		11	1	4	5	6
2021-22	Kookoo	Liiga		26	4	5	9	6		0	0	0	0	0
Liiga totals				117	19	36	55	116		12	3	1	4	6
KHL totals				82	9	26	35	67		4	0	1	1	2

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2008	United States	WJC18			7	0	0	0	6
Junior totals					7	0	0	0	6

References

1. "Sam Lofquist quits men's hockey team; drops out of school | mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily". www.mndaily.com. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
2. "Storm Sign Sam Lofquist - OurSports Central". www.oursportscentral.com. November 12, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
3. "Amerikansk back till IKO". Hockeysverige. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
4. Newman, Dave. "Lofquist will return to Sweden to continue hockey career next..." New Richmond News. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
5. "Statistics | Champions Hockey League". www.championshockeyleague.net. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
6. "Сэм Лофквист пополнил оборонительные редуты "Торпедо"". ХК Торпедо Нижний Новгород - официальный сайт хоккейного клуба. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
7. "Rampage sign Trevor Smith and Sam Lofquist to AHL contracts". oursportscentral.com. July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
8. "Sam Lofquist joins Kunlun". Kontinental Hockey League . December 25, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
9. "Sibir improve defensive depth". HC Sibir Novosibirsk (in Russian). May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database