Kent Nilsson

Kent Åke Nilsson (born 31 August 1956) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta and Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers, as well as teams across various European leagues.

A prolific scorer during his era, Nillson was called "Mr. Magic" and "The Magic Man" during his NHL career, referring to his exceptional puck skills. Wayne Gretzky commented on Nilsson's skills saying "Skills-wise he might have been the most skilled hockey player I ever saw in my entire career". Nilsson has the 10th highest career NHL points-per-game average of any player who scored at least 500 points, the most among any player not inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Nilsson was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2006, the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Playing career

Nilsson began his career during the season of 1973–74, playing for Djurgårdens IF during his first of four seasons in Sweden. He then came to North America, and played for the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association (WHA) beginning in 1977. He scored two consecutive 100-point seasons in the WHA. He was claimed by the Atlanta Flames, and in his first season with the team he scored 93 points. The next season, 1980–81, the Flames moved to Calgary; Nilsson scored 131 points.

Nilsson played with the Flames, wearing number 14, until the 1984–85 season, when the team, perceiving him as inconsistent, traded him to the Minnesota North Stars for a draft pick that the Flames used to draft Joe Nieuwendyk. Nilsson won his first and only Stanley Cup while playing with the Edmonton Oilers in 1987. He announced in June 1987 that he would return to Europe. Ultimately, he would play in Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Norway. In 1988–89, he was named player-of-the-year in Sweden. He returned to the NHL in an attempted comeback in the season with Edmonton at the age of 38, which lasted six games. He was the last former Atlanta Flames player to play in the NHL. He then played the remainder of his playing career in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Germany until 1998 when he last played in the Spanish hockey league for SAD Majadahonda in six games, making Nilsson one of the few former Stanley Cup winners to play in the league.

Nilsson holds the NHL record for the quickest goal scored during a season-opening game, at ten seconds in, while playing for the North Stars versus the Quebec Nordiques on 11 October 1986.

Awards

World Hockey Association Won Lou Kaplan Trophy (WHA Rookie of the Year) (1978) Won Paul Daneau Trophy (WHA Most Gentlemanly Player) (1979)

National Hockey League NHL All-Star Game — 1980, 1981

Sweden and International ice hockey Member of the Swedish World All-Star Team (1985, 1989, 1990) Named Swedish Player of the Year (1989) Inducted into the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame (2012) Calgary Flames team record for points in a single season (131 in 1980–81) Calgary Flames team record for assists in a single season (82 in 1980–81)

Post-playing career In 2006, he was featured on HCZ, a Swedish reality show as coach for a hockey team of non-athletes. After retiring, he worked as a European scout for the Edmonton Oilers, departing in 2010. He later served as a scout for the Florida Panthers.

Personal life Nilsson was married from 2005 to 2016 to Swedish golfer Helen Alfredsson. He occasionally caddied for her in professional events. He is also the father of Robert Nilsson, a former Edmonton Oilers player, from an earlier marriage.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1973–74 Djurgårdens IF SWE 8 1 2 3 4 14 8 6 14 2 1974–75 Djurgårdens IF SWE 28 13 12 25 14 — — — — — 1975–76 Djurgårdens IF SEL 36 28 26 54 10 — — — — — 1976–77 AIK SEL 36 30 19 49 18 — — — — — 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets WHA 80 42 65 107 8 9 2 8 10 10 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets WHA 78 39 68 107 8 10 3 11 14 4 1979–80 Atlanta Flames NHL 80 40 53 93 10 4 0 0 0 2 1980–81 Calgary Flames NHL 80 49 82 131 26 14 3 9 12 2 1981–82 Calgary Flames NHL 41 26 29 55 8 3 0 3 3 2 1982–83 Calgary Flames NHL 80 46 58 104 10 9 1 11 12 2 1983–84 Calgary Flames NHL 67 31 49 80 22 — — — — — 1984–85 Calgary Flames NHL 77 37 62 99 14 3 0 1 1 0 1985–86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 61 16 44 60 10 5 1 4 5 0 1986–87 Minnesota North Stars NHL 44 13 33 46 12 — — — — — 1986–87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 17 5 12 17 4 21 6 13 19 6 1987–88 HC Bolzano ITA 35 60 72 132 48 8 14 14 28 — 1987–88 SC Langnau NDA 2 2 0 2 — — — — — — 1988–89 Djurgårdens IF SEL 35 21 21 42 36 1 0 1 1 0 1989–90 EHC Kloten NDA 36 21 19 40 — 5 4 5 9 — 1990–91 EHC Kloten NDA 33 37 39 76 — 8 3 8 11 — 1991–92 EHC Kloten NDA 17 11 14 25 8 2 0 0 0 2 1992–93 Djurgårdens IF SEL 40 11 20 31 20 6 2 3 5 0 1993–94 EC Graz Alpenliga 30 15 33 48 — — — — — — 1993–94 EC Graz AUT 27 8 9 17 — — — — — — 1994–95 Vålerengens IF NOR 6 1 1 2 8 — — — — — 1994–95 Edmonton Oilers NHL 6 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1995–96 Nynäshamns IF SWE III 2 2 3 5 6 — — — — — 1997–98 CH Majadahonda ESP 6 8 12 20 — 2 3 8 11 — SEL totals 147 90 86 176 84 7 2 4 6 0 WHA totals 158 81 133 214 16 19 5 19 24 14 NHL totals 553 264 422 686 116 59 11 41 52 14 NDA totals 86 71 75 146 56 14 9 13 22 22

International Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM 1974 Sweden EJC 5 8 7 15 2 1975 Sweden WJC 6 3 3 6 — 1975 Sweden EJC 5 5 5 10 0 1976 Sweden WJC 4 1 3 4 2 1981 Sweden CC 5 0 2 2 4 1984 Sweden CC 8 3 8 11 4 1985 Sweden WC 8 6 5 11 6 1987 Sweden CC 6 0 4 4 4 1989 Sweden WC 10 3 11 14 0 1990 Sweden WC 10 10 2 12 6 Junior totals 20 17 18 35 — Senior totals 47 22 32 52 24