Stefan Persson (hockey player)
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At the World Junior Championship held in December 1999 and January 2000 in Umeå and Skellefteå, Sweden, a smiling, middle-aged man could often be seen in the Swedish camp. The Junior Tre Kronor general manager, Stefan Persson, was trying to give back to hockey what hockey had given to him. A brilliant defenseman during the 1980s, Persson had indeed been given much.
Persson was born on December 22, 1954, in Umeå, Sweden, and made his debut as an 18-year-old defenseman with Pitea IF. In 1973 he joined Brynas. While with Brynas, he received his first national championship silver medal and two national championship gold medals, in 1976 and 1977. It was during this time that The New York Islanders drafted him, so Persson decided to go overseas to play in the NHL.
Persson's responsible, defensive style was endorsed highly by the Islanders Head Coach, Al Arbour, and Persson's career in the NHL started swiftly. Persson also showed an adept passing ability and an occasional scoring touch. This was no more apparent than during the Islanders first Stanley Cup playoff run in Game 1 of The 1980 Finals against The Philadelphia Flyers. It was late in the third period, when Persson scored the game-tying goal to force a sudden-death overtime that the Islanders would win. Outdoing his regular season output of four goals, Persson scored five goals in the 1980 playoffs, and had serious consideration to become the first and only Swede to capture The Conn Smythe Trophy, which is awarded for MVP of The Stanley Cup playoffs. Although he did not receive the award, The New York Islanders, with Persson as a regular on their backline, would capture four consecutive Stanley Cups. Few Canadians or Americans can boast of this kind of success. He also set another record with the Islanders, playing more games than any other Swedish player in the NHL at that time.
During nine seasons with the Islanders, including playoffs, Persson played in 724 games, scored 59 goals and had 367 assists. He sent the four diamond rings he received for the four Stanley Cup wins to his father, Gosta, in the northern city of Pitea, where he'd begun his hockey career.
During late stages of the 1985-1986 season, The Islanders management, starting to lose money due to bad financial decisions concerning the team, decided that it was no longer prudent to pay Persson's salary, so they traded him to Winnipeg for a player to be named later. Persson had become a part of the community on Long Island, his only U.S. residence, and was so distraught about the trade that he decided, almost immediately, not to report to Winnipeg, and instead retired from the NHL altogether. Instead, he would return to Sweden where Persson joined Sweden's big-league Boras HS and was later given an administrative position with the team. After that he was asked to become the national junior team's general manager.
