Ricard Persson

Swedish ice hockey player
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroSwedish ice hockey player
PlacesSweden
isAthlete Ice hockey player
Work fieldSports
Gender
Male
Birth24 August 1969, Östersund, Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden
Age55 years
Star signVirgo
The details

Biography

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. Persson is currently with SG Cortina of the Serie A. He has a daughter named Hannah Persson.

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 Swedish Elite League. Persson played 7 years in the SEL, 5 with Leksands IF and 2 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.

Following his 2 years with the Senators Persson played in Germany with the Berlin Polar Bears for 3 years. He last plays with Oji Paper in Japan previously for Klagenfurt AC in Austria, a team he joined prior to the 2005–2006 season.

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1987–88Leksands IFSEL21202820112
1988–89Leksands IFSEL332462890116
1989–90Leksands IFSEL40910195630006
1990–91Leksands IFSEL1934720
1991–92Leksands IFSEL2107728
1992–93Leksands IFSEL36715225620220
1993–94Malmö IF RedhawksSEL4011920381120212
1994–95Malmö IF RedhawksSEL31313163490228
1994–95Albany River RatsAHL93587
1995–96Albany River RatsAHL671531465940007
1995–96New Jersey DevilsNHL122138
1996–97Albany River RatsAHL131458
1996–97New Jersey DevilsNHL10000
1996–97St. Louis BluesNHL53481245600027
1997–98Worcester IceCatsAHL32216185810371024
1997–98St. Louis BluesNHL10000
1998–99Worcester IceCatsAHL19641042
1998–99St. Louis BluesNHL5411213941303317
1999–00Worcester IceCatsAHL20110
1999–00St. Louis BluesNHL410883831010
2000–01Ottawa SenatorsNHL331893520000
2001–02Ottawa SenatorsNHL3427942200015
2002–03Berlin Polar BearsDEL421124358091562
2003–04Berlin Polar BearsDEL256713361135810
2004–05Berlin Polar BearsDEL524141840120114
2005–06Klagenfurt ACEBEL4817183540
2006–07Klagenfurt ACEBEL367142198
2007–08Oji PaperALH30111728549471124
NHL totals2291044542622613459

International play

Played for Sweden in:

  • 1988 World Junior Championships
  • 1989 World Junior Championships (Silver medal)
  • 2000 World Championships

International statistics

YearTeamCompGPGAPtsPIM
1988SwedenWJC725712
1989SwedenWJC736910
2000SwedenWC70006
Junior int'l totals145111622
Senior int'l totals70006
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