Mats Näslund

Mats Näslund
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2005
Date of birth	October 31, 1959
place of birth	Timrå , Sweden
Nickname	Le Petit Viking
size	170 cm
Weight	73 kg
position	Left wing
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1979 , 2nd lap, 37th position Montréal Canadiens
Career stations
1975-1988	Timrå IK
1978-1982	Brynäs IF
1982-1990	Montréal Canadiens
1990-1991	HC Lugano
1991-1994	Malmö IF
1994-1995	Boston Bruins

Mats Näslund (born October 31, 1959 in Timrå ) is a former Swedish ice hockey player . He is a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame and the Triple Gold Club .

Career

Näslund spent the first two years of his professional career at his home club in Timrå. In the summer of 1978 he moved to Brynäs IF and a year later he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft. The Montréal Canadiens pulled him during the NHL Entry Draft 1979 in the second round in a total of 37th position. As the first European-born player in a Canadiens jersey, he made his NHL debut three years later. Due to a great rookie year, the left wing quickly got the nickname "Le Petit Viking" ("The Little Viking") by the fans. In 1990 he returned to Europe, but completed once 34 NHL games with the Boston Bruins in the lockout -Season 1994/95 before then finally ended his career. In Sweden he won the national championship three times.

During his NHL career, Näslund never received more than 19 penalty minutes in any season. Because of this fair play, he was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1988 . During the NHL All-Star Game in 1988 , he set a new record with five assists.

International

Mats Näslund played for the Swedish national team in various tournaments . He already gained experience in the youth teams in his country. In 1978 and 1979, for example, he won the silver and bronze medals at the World Youth Championships. For the A-Team he competed in five ice hockey world championships and won a bronze, a silver and in 1991 even a gold medal. He also took part in the Canada Cup three times. Through his participation in the 1994 Winter Olympics and the associated Olympic victory, he has been a member of the Triple Gold Club since then , that is, one of the players who have won the Stanley Cup , the World Championship and the Olympic Games at least once .

Achievements and Awards

• 1977 gold medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• 1978 silver medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1978 All-Star Team of the Junior World Championship
• 1979 bronze medal at the U20 Junior World Championship
• 1979 bronze medal at the world championship
• 1980 Swedish Player of the Year
• 1980, 1992, 1994: Swedish champion
• 1980 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games
• 1981 silver medal at the world championship
• 1983 NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1983 NHL All-Star Rookies Game
• 1984, 1986, 1988: NHL All-Star Game; In 1989 he was elected to the team, but could not play because of an injury.
• 1986 Stanley Cup win with the Montréal Canadiens
• 1986 NHL Second All-Star Team
• 1988 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
• 1991 gold medal at the world championship
• 1992 European Cup win with Malmö IF
• 1994 gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games
• 1994 All-Star Team at the Olympic Winter Games
• 2005 induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame

Career statistics

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1975/76	Timrå IK	SEL		3	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
1977/78	Timrå IK	SEL		35	13	6th	19th	14th		-	-	-	-	-
1978/79	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	12	12	24	19th		-	-	-	-	-
1979/80	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	18th	19th	37	34		-	-	-	-	-
1980/81	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	17th	25th	42	34		-	-	-	-	-
1981/82	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	24	18th	42	16		-	-	-	-	-
1982/83	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		74	26th	45	71	10		3	1	0	1	0
1983/84	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		77	29	35	64	4th		15th	6th	8th	14th	4th
1984/85	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		80	42	37	79	14th		12	7th	4th	11	6th
1985/86	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		80	43	67	110	16		20th	8th	11	19th	4th
1986/87	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		79	25th	55	80	16		17th	7th	15th	22nd	11
1987/88	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		78	24	59	83	14th		6th	0	7th	7th	2
1988/89	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		77	33	51	84	14th		21st	4th	11	15th	6th
1989/90	Canadiens de Montréal	NHL		72	21st	20th	41	19th		3	1	1	2	0
1990/91	HC Lugano	NLA		33	25th	31	56	?		9	4th	9	13
1991/92	Malmö IF	SEL		39	15th	24	39	10		10	3	2	5	0
1992/93	Malmö IF	SEL		33	11	21st	32	10		1	0	0	0	0
1993/94	Malmö IF	SEL		40	14th	30th	44	8th		11	2	4th	6th	4th
1994/95	Boston Bruins	NHL		34	8th	14th	22nd	4th		5	1	0	1	0
NHL overall				651	251	383	634	111		102	35	57	92	33

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Mats Näslund at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Mats Näslund in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mats Naslund - Bio, pictures, stats and more - Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens. In: ourhistory.canadiens.com. Accessed May 7, 2018 .