Pelle Eklund
Swedish ice hockey player
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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.
| Pelle Eklund | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pelle Eklund in 2013. | |||
| Born |
22 March 1963 | ||
| 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 team |
 Sweden | ||
| NHL draft |
161st overall, 1983 Philadelphia Flyers | ||
| Playing career | 1981–1999 | ||
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 as the 161st overall pick in the 1983 NHL entry draft. He led all rookies in assists with 51 and finished 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 Stanley Cup playoffs, he helped carry Philadelphia to the 1987 Stanley Cup Final, as his 27 points were fourth in overall scoring and his 20 assists were second to only Wayne Gretzky; in his only Cup Final, he recorded seven assists in the series along with one goal, but the Flyers lost to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. Eklund recorded only one goal and 18 points in 48 games for the Flyers during the 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 the age of 36.
In the 2005–06 season, he served as an assistant coach for Leksand. He served as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens until he was fired on 31 May 2010.[1] Currently he is an amateur scout with the Edmonton Oilers.
International
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Sweden | ||
| Olympics | ||
 | 1984 Sarajevo | |
| World Championships | ||
 | 1991 Finland | |
 | 1995 Sweden | |
| 1990 Switzerland | |
| European Junior Championships | ||
| 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 | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1978–79 | Stocksunds IF | SWE-3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Stocksunds IF | SWE-3 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Stocksunds IF | SWE-3 | 19 | 13 | 20 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | AIK | SWE | 23 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | AIK | SWE | 34 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1983–84 | AIK | SWE | 35 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 2 | ||
| 1984–85 | AIK | SWE | 35 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 70 | 15 | 51 | 66 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1986–87 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 72 | 14 | 41 | 55 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 2 | ||
| 1987–88 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 71 | 10 | 32 | 42 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 1988–89 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 79 | 18 | 51 | 69 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2 | ||
| 1989–90 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 70 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 73 | 19 | 50 | 69 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 51 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 55 | 11 | 38 | 49 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 48 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1994–95 | Leksands IF | SWE | 32 | 13 | 36 | 49 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Leksands IF | SWE | 30 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1996–97 | Leksands IF | SWE | 36 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1997–98 | Leksands IF | SWE | 38 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1998–99 | Leksands IF | SWE | 37 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| SWE totals | 300 | 81 | 174 | 255 | 106 | 32 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 16 | ||||
| NHL totals | 594 | 120 | 335 | 455 | 109 | 66 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 8 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Sweden | EJC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 1982 | Sweden | WJC | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1983 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1984 | Sweden | OLY | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1984 | Sweden | CC | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1985 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Sweden | WC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1990 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1991 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1995 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1996 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 18 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 | |||
| Senior totals | 63 | 9 | 27 | 36 | 16 | |||
Awards
- Guldpucken Award (Golden Puck) as Sweden's player of the year in 1983–84
- Guldhjalmen Award (Golden Helmet) as the Most Valuable Player in the Elitserien in 1994–95
- 1984 Elitserien All-Star Team
- Top scorer in 1984 Elitserien playoffs
