Ricard Persson
Lars Ricard Persson | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 24, 1969 Sweden |
| Occupation | Ice hockey player |
| Years active | 1984–2008 |
| Known for | Playing in the NHL for New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Ottawa Senators |
Lars Ricard Persson (born August 24, 1969) is a Swedish ice hockey professional who played in the NHL for the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Ottawa Senators.
Playing career
Selected 23rd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Persson initially stayed in Sweden, where he spent eight seasons competing in the Elitserien—six campaigns with Leksands IF followed by two with Malmö IF. He transitioned to North America during the 1994–95 season, joining the Albany River Rats of the AHL for their playoff run after finishing his commitments in Sweden.
In the subsequent season, Persson divided his time between Albany and making his NHL debut with New Jersey, appearing in 12 games. The 1996–97 season saw him begin with Albany and a single game for the Devils before being traded to the St. Louis Blues. Although he spent the majority of his NHL tenure with St. Louis, injuries and assignments to their AHL affiliate, the Worcester IceCats, restricted him to a maximum of 54 games per season. A highlight includes his assist on the overtime series-winning goal in Game 7 against the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999.
Prior to the 2000–01 campaign, Persson signed with the Ottawa Senators as a free agent but missed much of his first year due to an ankle injury and was mostly a healthy scratch during the following season. That year’s playoff exit was influenced by a debated penalty against Tie Domi; Domi later acknowledged exaggerating contact to draw that call.
Following two seasons with Ottawa, Persson spent three years playing for Eisbären Berlin in Germany. He then competed for two seasons each at EC KAC in Austria and Oji Eagles in the Asia League Ice Hockey before concluding his professional career with a single season at SG Cortina in Italy.
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 | ||
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|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | SEL totals ! 241 ! 37 ! 62 ! 99 ! 268 ! 36 ! 2 ! 6 ! 8 ! 34 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 229 ! 10 ! 44 ! 54 ! 262 ! 26 ! 1 ! 3 ! 4 ! 59 |}
International
| Year | Team | Tournament | 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 career totals | 21 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 22 | |||
| Senior career totals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||