Ricard Persson

Ricard Persson
Born	(1969-08-24) August 24, 1969 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

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.

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

Regular season and playoffs

				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

Ricard Persson

Medal record
Representing Sweden
World Junior Championships
	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

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database