Ricard Persson

Ricard Persson
Born (1969-08-24) August 24, 1969 (age 55)
Östersund, Sweden
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Leksands IF
Malmö IF
New Jersey Devils
St. Louis Blues
Ottawa Senators
Eisbären Berlin
EC KAC
Oji Eagles
SG Cortina
NHL draft 23rd overall, 1987
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 1987–2010

Lars Ricard Persson (born August 24, 1969) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player. Persson played in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Ottawa Senators.

Playing career

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Persson was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round, 23rd overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than join the Devils though Persson chose to stay in his native Sweden where he played in the Elitserien where played for eight seasons, six with Leksands IF and two with Malmö IF. The 1994–1995 season finally saw Persson arrive to North America when he joined the Albany River Rats of the AHL for the playoffs after finishing the regular season in Sweden.

Persson then played the majority of the following season with the River Rats but also made his NHL debut with the Devils, appearing in 12 games. The 1996–1997 season saw Persson start the year off with the River Rats, along with one game with the Devils, before he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. With the Blues Persson had a chance to crack the starting lineup. He played the majority of his NHL career with the Blues but thanks to injuries and numerous stints with the Blues minor league affiliate Worcester IceCats never played more than 54 games in a season. He recorded the primary assist of a series-winning goal during the first overtime of game 7 of the Blues' first round matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999 when his shot from the top of the faceoff circle was deflected into the net by Pierre Turgeon.

Prior to the 2000–2001 season Persson signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators. During his first year though he missed the majority of the games due to an ankle injury, and the following season he was a healthy reserve for the majority of the season. After taking a foolish penalty for a check on Tie Domi, he was widely blamed for the Senators losing a playoff series to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ending the Senators' hope for a Stanley Cup that season. Domi would later admit in his autobiography to throwing himself to the boards intentionally to draw the penalty. [1]

Following his two years with the Senators, Persson played in Germany with Eisbären Berlin for three years. He then played in Austria for EC KAC before joining the Oji Eagles of the Asia League Ice Hockey, spending two seasons with each team. He would play one more season afterwards in Italy for SG Cortina before retiring.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Östersunds IK SWE.2 13 0 3 3 6
1985–86 Östersunds IK SWE.2 24 2 2 4 16
1986–87 Östersunds IK SWE.2 31 10 11 21 28
1987–88 Leksands IF SEL 21 2 0 2 8 2 0 1 1 2
1988–89 Leksands IF SEL 33 2 4 6 28 9 0 1 1 6
1989–90 Leksands IF SEL 40 9 10 19 56 3 0 0 0 6
1990–91 Leksands IF SEL 19 3 4 7 20
1990–91 Leksands IF Allsv 18 3 5 8 18 4 0 0 0 4
1991–92 Leksands IF SEL 21 0 7 7 28
1991–92 Leksands IF Allsv 18 6 3 9 18 11 4 3 7 16
1992–93 Leksands IF SEL 36 7 15 22 56 2 0 2 2 0
1993–94 Malmö IF SEL 40 11 9 20 38 11 2 0 2 12
1994–95 Malmö IF SEL 31 3 13 16 34 9 0 2 2 8
1994–95 Albany River Rats AHL 9 3 5 8 7
1995–96 Albany River Rats AHL 67 15 31 46 59 4 0 0 0 7
1995–96 New Jersey Devils NHL 12 2 1 3 8
1996–97 Albany River Rats AHL 13 1 4 5 8
1996–97 New Jersey Devils NHL 1 0 0 0 0
1996–97 St. Louis Blues NHL 53 4 8 12 45 6 0 0 0 27
1997–98 Worcester IceCats AHL 32 2 16 18 58 10 3 7 10 24
1997–98 St. Louis Blues NHL 1 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Worcester IceCats AHL 19 6 4 10 42
1998–99 St. Louis Blues NHL 54 1 12 13 94 13 0 3 3 17
1999–2000 Worcester IceCats AHL 2 0 1 1 0
1999–2000 St. Louis Blues NHL 41 0 8 8 38 3 1 0 1 0
2000–01 Ottawa Senators NHL 33 1 8 9 35 2 0 0 0 0
2001–02 Ottawa Senators NHL 34 2 7 9 42 2 0 0 0 15
2002–03 Eisbären Berlin DEL 42 11 24 35 80 9 1 5 6 2
2003–04 Eisbären Berlin DEL 25 6 7 13 36 11 3 5 8 10
2004–05 Eisbären Berlin DEL 52 4 14 18 40 12 0 1 1 4
2005–06 EC KAC AUT 48 17 18 35 40
2006–07 EC KAC AUT 36 7 14 21 98
2007–08 Oji Eagles ALH 30 11 17 28 54 9 4 7 11 24
2008–09 Oji Eagles ALH 32 12 25 37 68 2 0 2 2 2
2009–10 SG Cortina ITA 40 10 20 30 30
SEL totals 241 37 62 99 268 36 2 6 8 34
NHL totals 229 10 44 54 262 26 1 3 4 59

International

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Ricard Persson
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 1989 Anchorage Ice hockey
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1987 Sweden EJC 7 2 1 3 0
1988 Sweden WJC 7 2 5 7 12
1989 Sweden WJC 7 3 6 9 10
2000 Sweden WC 7 0 0 0 6
Junior totals 21 7 12 19 22
Senior totals 7 0 0 0 6

References

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  1. ^ "Former Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Tie Domi remembers bloody Battle of Ontario in best-selling memoir".
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