Per-Erik Eklund

Per-Erik "Pelle" Eklund (born 22 March 1963) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger. He played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars from 1985 to 1994 and nine seasons in the Swedish Elitserien (SEL) with AIK and Leksands IF from 1981 to 1985 and 1994 to 1999. Internationally Eklund played for the Swedish national team at several World Championships, winning gold in 1991 and silver in both 1990 and 1995, and the 1984 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal.

Playing career

Eklund played as a Bantam for Stocksund in team 63 where he was the captain of the team. Eklund played for AIK of the Elitserien between 1981 and 1985, winning the league championship in 1984. He won the Golden Puck as Sweden's top player in 1984 at the age of 21. He came to the NHL in 1985, joining the Philadelphia Flyers, who had selected him as the 161st overall pick in the 1983 NHL entry draft. He led all rookies in assists with 51 and finished third in overall rookie scoring (behind Kjell Dahlin and Gary Suter) in the 1985–86 season.

Over the next nine seasons, Eklund topped the 50-assist mark on three occasions. In the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, he helped carry Philadelphia to the 1987 Stanley Cup Final, as his 27 points were fourth in overall scoring and his 20 assists were second to only Wayne Gretzky; in his only Cup Final, he recorded seven assists in the series along with one goal, but the Flyers lost to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. Eklund recorded only one goal and 18 points in 48 games for the Flyers during the 1993–94 season. At the trade deadline, he was dealt to the Dallas Stars, where he had a brief stint to finish his NHL career. Eklund then returned to Sweden to play for Leksands IF for the 1994–95 season. He led the SEL in assists and points and was named league MVP. He played four more seasons for Leksand before retiring in 1999 at the age of 36.

In the 2005–06 season, he served as an assistant coach for Leksand. He served as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens until he was fired on 31 May 2010. Currently he is an amateur scout with the Edmonton Oilers.

International

Eklund played 126 international games for the Swedish national team. He played in six World Championships and was on the gold medal Swedish team of 1991. He played in the 1984 Winter Olympics on the bronze medal team and in the 1984 Canada Cup, in which Sweden made the finals. He was also on the European Championships gold-medal team in 1990.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1978–79 Stocksunds IF SWE-3 1 2 0 2 — — — — — — 1979–80 Stocksunds IF SWE-3 17 8 2 10 — — — — — — 1980–81 Stocksunds IF SWE-3 19 13 20 33 — — — — — — 1981–82 AIK SWE 23 2 2 4 2 — — — — — 1982–83 AIK SWE 34 13 17 30 14 3 1 4 5 2 1983–84 AIK SWE 35 9 18 27 24 6 6 7 13 2 1984–85 AIK SWE 35 16 33 49 10 — — — — — 1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 70 15 51 66 12 5 0 2 2 0 1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72 14 41 55 2 26 7 20 27 2 1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 10 32 42 12 7 0 3 0 1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 18 51 69 23 19 3 8 11 2 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 70 23 39 62 16 — — — — — 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 73 19 50 69 14 — — — — — 1991–92 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 51 7 16 23 4 — — — — — 1992–93 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 55 11 38 49 16 — — — — — 1993–94 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 48 1 16 17 8 — — — — — 1993–94 Dallas Stars NHL 5 2 1 3 2 9 0 3 3 4 1994–95 Leksands IF SWE 32 13 36 49 12 2 0 1 1 0 1995–96 Leksands IF SWE 30 6 17 23 6 4 1 0 1 2 1996–97 Leksands IF SWE 36 6 16 22 10 9 2 5 7 4 1997–98 Leksands IF SWE 38 8 18 26 18 4 1 0 1 2 1998–99 Leksands IF SWE 37 8 17 25 10 4 1 2 3 4 SWE totals 300 81 174 255 106 32 12 19 31 16 NHL totals 594 120 335 455 109 66 10 36 46 8

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1981 Sweden EJC 5 0 0 0 4 1982 Sweden WJC 6 1 3 4 2 1983 Sweden WJC 7 5 1 6 2 1984 Sweden OLY 7 2 6 8 0 1984 Sweden CC 8 1 1 2 0 1985 Sweden WC 10 2 4 6 2 1986 Sweden WC 4 1 1 2 4 1990 Sweden WC 10 1 7 8 4 1991 Sweden WC 10 1 3 4 2 1995 Sweden WC 8 1 2 3 0 1996 Sweden WC 6 0 3 3 4 Junior totals 18 6 4 10 8 Senior totals 63 9 27 36 16

Awards Guldpucken Award (Golden Puck) as Sweden's player of the year in 1983–84 Guldhjalmen Award (Golden Helmet) as the Most Valuable Player in the Elitserien in 1994–95 1984 Elitserien All-Star Team Top scorer in 1984 Elitserien playoffs