Kjell Dahlin

Kjell Håkan Dahlin (born 2 March 1963) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward. He played for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL in the mid-1980s.

NHL Dahlin was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1981 in the fourth round as the 82nd pick overall. Dahlin played in Sweden until 1985 when he joined the Canadiens.

In his first season in the NHL, he played 77 games. He scored 32 goals and 71 points, tying a club record for points by a rookie that fellow countryman and teammate Mats Näslund set and also setting a club rookie goals record. His point total made him the top scoring rookie that season but an outstanding season by first-year defenceman Gary Suter kept Dahlin from capturing the rookie of the year honors. However, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. Despite his impressive points total during the regular season, Dahlin was held to just two goals and five points in the playoffs which saw the Canadiens go on to win the Stanley Cup in 1986.

In his second season, injuries limited Dahlin to just 41 games, and his point total dropped to 20. In 1987–88, Dahlin's third year, injuries again limited him as he played just 48 games this time scoring 25 points.

Back to Sweden With diminishing returns and bad luck on the injury front, Dahlin opted to return to Sweden for the 1988–89 campaign. Dahlin rejoined Färjestads BK, the Swedish Elite League club team he spent three seasons with before joining Montreal. Dahlin played six seasons with them then retired from the game in 1994.

Dahlin only played 11 games with the Swedish national team and never played with them in any major tournament.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1978–79 Timrå IK SWE II 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1979–80 Timrå IK SWE II 14 4 1 5 0 — — — — — 1980–81 Timrå IK SWE II 25 7 12 19 16 — — — — — 1981–82 Timrå IK SEL 36 16 7 23 14 — — — — — 1982–83 Färjestad BK SEL 32 10 8 18 2 7 0 0 0 2 1983–84 Färjestad BK SEL 36 19 9 28 16 — — — — — 1984–85 Färjestad BK SEL 35 21 25 46 10 3 2 1 3 0 1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 32 39 71 71 16 2 3 5 4 1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 41 12 8 20 0 8 2 4 6 0 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 13 12 25 6 11 2 4 6 2 1988–89 Färjestad BK SEL 37 23 20 43 24 2 1 0 1 0 1989–90 Färjestad BK SEL 30 26 12 38 12 — — — — — 1990–91 Färjestad BK SEL 31 9 8 17 14 — — — — — 1991–92 Färjestad BK SEL 25 6 10 16 10 6 4 1 5 4 1992–93 Färjestad BK SEL 36 4 8 12 4 3 2 0 2 4 1993–94 Färjestad BK SEL 16 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1993–94 Färjestad BK Allsv 8 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1993–94 Grums IK SWE II 4 0 5 5 0 — — — — — SWE II totals 45 11 18 29 16 — — — — — SEL totals 314 134 108 242 106 21 9 2 11 10 NHL totals 166 57 59 116 77 35 6 11 17 6

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1980 Sweden EJC 5 1 0 1 0 1981 Sweden EJC 5 4 5 9 4 1982 Sweden WJC 7 5 1 6 4 1983 Sweden WJC 7 3 4 7 2 Junior totals 24 13 10 23 10