Andreas Lilja

Andreas Lilja
Born July 13, 1975 (1975-07-13) (age 36)
Helsingborg, Sweden
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Philadelphia Flyers
Los Angeles Kings
Florida Panthers
Detroit Red Wings
Anaheim Ducks
NHL Draft 54th overall, 2000
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 1995–present

Andreas Lilja (born July 13, 1975) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents

Playing career

Professional hockey

Lilja was drafted in the 2nd round, 54th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2002–03 NHL season, Lilja was traded to the Florida Panthers where he played for the remainder of the season. In the summer of 2004, he was signed by the Nashville Predators, but never played for them because of the NHL lockout, during which he played for Mora IK and the Malmö IF Redhawks of Elitserien, as well as HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League A. Once the lockout ended, he was signed to a 1 year deal by the Detroit Red Wings. After playing in all 82 regular season games for the Red Wings in the 2005–06 NHL season, he was re-signed by the team to a two year deal in the summer of 2006. Lilja was re-signed yet again to another two year deal in the summer of 2008.

Lilja won the 2008 Stanley Cup as a member of the Red Wings. He is also one of 9 native Swedes who played for the team at that time. He normally sees time on the Red Wings penalty killing unit, and is a skilled shot blocker.

On October 10, 2010, after being released from a tryout with the San Jose Sharks, Lilja signed a one year contract with the Anaheim Ducks.[1]

Lilja signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers worth a total of $1.475 million on July 1, 2011.[2]

Suspension resulting from sex scandal

In 2005, Lilja, and fellow Swedish hockey players Henrik Tallinder and Kristian Huselius were investigated on suspicion of sexual exploitation. In March 2005, all three players were suspended from the Swedish national team for one year, with Huselius and Tallinder being released by Swedish club Linköping and Lilja took a break from, but was not suspended by his Swedish club Mora for the rest of the season.[3]

Initially police had dropped their investigation two days after the initial charges on February 11, 2005 when a 22-year-old woman accused the trio of raping her on February 9, because of a lack of evidence. However, a special prosecutor reopened the case in March, leading to the suspensions.[4] Lilja and the others were cleared in June of that year after a special prosecutor ruled there was no evidence they forced the woman to have sex.[5]

Personal life

Andreas is married to Lotta and has 2 daughters; Tilda (born in 2003) and Maya (born in 2008).[6]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1994–95 Malmö IF SEL 4 0 0 0 2
1995–96 Malmö IF SEL 40 1 5 6 63 5 0 1 1 2
1996–97 Malmö IF SEL 47 1 0 1 24 4 0 0 0 10
1997–98 Malmö IF SEL 10 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Malmö IF SEL 41 0 3 3 44 1 0 0 0 4
1999–00 Malmö IF SEL 49 8 11 19 88
2000–01 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 61 7 29 36 149 4 0 6 6 6
2000–01 Los Angeles Kings NHL 2 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0
2001–02 Manchester Monarchs AHL 4 0 1 1 4
2001–02 Los Angeles Kings NHL 26 1 4 5 22 5 0 0 0 6
2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 17 0 3 3 14
2002–03 Florida Panthers NHL 56 4 8 12 56
2003–04 Florida Panthers NHL 79 3 4 7 90
2004–05 Mora IK SEL 44 3 8 11 67
2004–05 HC Ambrì-Piotta NLA 5 0 2 2 6
2005–06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 2 13 15 98 6 0 1 1 6
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 57 0 5 5 54 18 1 0 1 10
2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 2 10 12 93 12 0 1 1 16
2008–09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 60 2 11 13 66
2009–10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 20 1 1 2 4 11 0 0 0 14
2009–10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 4 0 0 0 6
2010–11 Anaheim Ducks NHL 52 1 6 7 28 3 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 530 16 65 81 529 56 1 2 3 52
SEL totals 231 13 27 40 254 16 0 1 1 24

References

External links