Peter Forsberg

Peter Mattias Forsberg (b. July 20th 1973 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a retired Swedish professional centre.

Already recognised as an elite player at a young age, Forsberg joined the junior team of MoDo Hockey in 1989. After playing 23 games with the senior squad in 1991, Forsberg was drafted to the NHL by the Flyers 6th overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He was a bit later involved in one of the most significant trades of the 1990's, when Eric Lindros, who had previously refused to join the Quebec Nordiques, the team that had drafted him, was traded to the Flyers for Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, two first round draft picks, $15,000,000 cash and Peter Forsberg.

Forsberg took part in the 1992 and 1993 World Junior Championships. At the latter even, he and his teammate Markus Näslund went on a scoring spree; Forsberg established a WJC record for the most points in the tournament with 7 goals and 24 assists for 31 points in just 7 games.

The young Swede spent two more years in the Elitserien and gave the Swedish National Team the gold medal at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, with a shootout goal agaist Canada's goaltender Corey Hirsch. The goal has become so iconic that it was featured on a stamp issued by Sweden and that every effort made afterward to score a goal the same way draws a reference to Forsberg.

Peter joined the NHL the next season, taking part of the last season of the Nordiques in Quebec. He collected 50 points in a season shortened by the 1994-95 lock-out and won the Calder Memorial Trophy. The following season, he collected 116 points in the regular season and 21 in the playoffs to help the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup. This win made him a member of the Triple Gold Club, for players having won the Stanley Cup, a World Championship gold medal and an Olympic gold medal.

From 2001, injuries become a big part of Forsberg's career. He needed to have his spleen removed during the 2001 playoffs, missing the remainder of the the playoffs and missing the Avs' second Stanley Cup win. He took the next season off, coming back only for the playoffs.

Following the 2004-05 lock-out, Foppa, as he is nicknamed in his home country, signed a two years deal with the Flyers worth 11.5 million dollars. He also became the 15th captain of the Flyers' history after Keith Primeau announced his retirement from pro hockey. On February 15th 2007, Forsberg was dealt to the Nashville Predators for Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent. He maintained a point per game on average, but failed to help the Predators get past the first round of the playoffs.

After having stayed away from the game for most of the 2007-08 NHL season, Forsberg signed late in the season with the Colorado Avalanche. In 9 games, he scored once and added 13 assists; he helped the Avalanche make a comeback to postseason after a one-year absence and reach the second round.

Forsberg was selected to represent his country again for the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada. He carried the Swedish flag at the opening ceremonies.

He retired in 2011 with an NHL total of 249 goals and 636 assists (885 points) in 708 games. He is currently the assistant general manager of MODO Hockey.