Kent Nilsson

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SwedenSweden  Kent Nilsson Ice hockey player
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2006
Date of birth August 31, 1956
place of birth Nynäshamn , Sweden
Nickname Kenta, Magic Man
size 183 cm
Weight 88 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft 1976 , 4th lap, 64th position
Atlanta Flames
WHA Amateur Draft 1976 , 2nd round, 11th position
Toronto Toros
Career stations
1973-1976 Djurgårdens IF
1976-1977 AIK Solna
1977-1979 Winnipeg Jets
1979-1980 Atlanta Flames
1980-1985 Calgary Flames
1985-1987 Minnesota North Stars
1987 Edmonton Oilers
1987-1988 HC Bolzano
1988-1989 Djurgårdens IF
1989-1992 EHC Kloten
1992-1993 Djurgårdens IF
1993-1994 EC Graz
1994-1995 Vålerenga IF
Edmonton Oilers
1995-1996 Nynäshamns IF
1997-1998 Majadahonda HC

Kent "Kenta" Nilsson (born August 31, 1956 in Nynäshamn ) is a former Swedish ice hockey player (Center), who from 1977 to 1995 for the Atlanta Flames or Calgary Flames , Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League and for the Winnipeg Jets played in the World Hockey Association .

Career

He started his career at Djurgårdens IF Stockholm and played in the Elitserien at the age of 17 . He drew attention to himself at the junior world championships. In the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft , the Atlanta Flames selected him in the fourth round as 64th. The Toronto Toros showed even more interest, choosing him as the eleventh player in the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft in the second round. In the Elitserien he moved to AIK Stockholm and a year later he ventured to North America.

Here the Winnipeg Jets had meanwhile secured the rights to him. In the jets he met a number of other Swedes. In addition to NHL legend Bobby Hull , Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg were two Swedish top scorers in the squad. But Willy Lindström was also one of the best players in the league. In his two years in Winnipeg he was able to win the Avco World Trophy as a champion of the WHA . In his second year he was the team's best scorer.

After the dissolution of the WHA, the Atlanta Flames made use of their right and brought him to their NHL team. There he was also convincing and was the top scorer of the Flames, with whom he moved to Calgary after a year. In the 1980/81 season , the first in Calgary, he brought it to 82 assists and 131 points. This made him the third best scorer in the NHL behind Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne and still set the records that are valid today for the Flames. After an injury in the coming season he was at the head of the team for the 1982/83 season with 104 points.

In June 1985, the Flames gave their top scorer to the Minnesota North Stars . In return, the Flames got their second-round draft rights for the Drafts in 1985 ( Joe Nieuwendyk ) and 1987 ( Stéphane Matteau ) from the stars . But in Minnesota he could no longer build on the performances from before and only managed just over one point per game. So they sold him to the Edmonton Oilers after a season and a half . In Wayne Gretzky's team , he contributed 21 points to the Stanley Cup victory in the playoffs . After Willy Lindström he was the second European to win the Stanley Cup after the Avco World Trophy.

He then returned to Europe and played in numerous countries. The first stop after his return was HC Bozen , with which he won the Italian championship . This was followed by a short detour for two games at SC Langnau in Switzerland before returning to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden. Here he also became Swedish champion . After a year at home, I went to EHC Kloten in the Swiss National League A for three years . In the 1992/93 season he played again for Djurgårdens IF. This was followed by a season each in Austria at EC Graz and in Norway at Vålerenga Ishockey , before he moved again to the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL for six games and also scored one goal. After a season in his hometown at Nynäshamn IF and a game at EC Stuttgart in the 1996/97 season , he also played for a year in Spain at Majadahonda HC , with whom he was Spanish champion at the end of his career .

He worked as a scout for the Edmonton Oilers .

He is married to the golfer Helen Alfredsson . His son from a previous marriage, Robert Nilsson , born in 1985 , also played in the NHL.

In 2006 he was honored with the induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame .

statistics

Seasons Games Gates Assists Points Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season 9 553 264 422 686 116
NHL playoffs 7th 59 11 41 52 14th
WHA regular season 2 152 81 133 214 16
WHA playoffs 2 19th 5 19th 24 14th

Sporting successes

Personal awards

Franchise Records

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nilsson, Kent
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nilsson, Kenta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Nynäshamn , Sweden