Mats Näslund

Mats Näslund
Born	(1959-10-31) October 31, 1959 Timrå, Sweden
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight	161 lb (73 kg; 11 st 7 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	SEL Timrå IK Brynäs IF Malmö IF NHL Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins Nationalliga A HC Lugano
National team	Sweden
NHL Draft	37th overall, 1979 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1975–1995

Mats Torsten Näslund (born October 31, 1959), nicknamed "Le Petit Viking", is a retired Swedish ice hockey player. He played as a left wing.

NHL career

Näslund was selected in the second round as the 37th overall pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, by the Montreal Canadiens. After three more years of playing hockey in Sweden, he joined the Canadiens for the 1982–83 NHL season. He was the first European-born player to ever play for the Canadiens.

In his rookie season of 1982–83, Näslund recorded 71 points in 74 games, finishing third on the team in scoring behind Guy Lafleur and Ryan Walter. That year, he was recognized as the left winger on the NHL All-Rookie Team.

His offensive abilities quickly endeared him to Montreal fans, and he was given the nickname of "Le Petit Viking" (The Little Viking), a reference to his Nordic heritage and his diminutive stature. Teammate Mario Tremblay jokingly said on the arrival of Näslund that they only received one half of a player and the other half would arrive later.

Näslund's best NHL season came in 1985–86. He recorded 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points, the first Montreal player to top 100 points since Lafleur in 1979–80, and the last Canadien to reach 100 points as of the 2014-15 season or finish in the top 10 of NHL scoring. His 67 assists were an NHL record for a left winger until Kevin Stevens of the Pittsburgh Penguins recorded 69 in 1991–92. In the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs, the speedy Näslund led all Montreal scorers with 19 points as the Canadiens won their 23rd Stanley Cup championship, their first since 1979. He continued to lead the Montreal Canadiens in scoring through the 1986–87 season, however his output was lower than the that of the preceding season.

During his NHL career, Näslund was an infrequent visitor to the penalty box. Never logging more than 19 penalty minutes in any season during his career, his gentlemanly play was recognized when he was voted the winner of the 1988 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, beating Wayne Gretzky in the voting. During the 1988 NHL All-Star Game, his five assists established a record, and he was instrumental in helping Mario Lemieux set the All-Star Game record with six points.

After a sub-par 1989–90 season, worn down by the relatively long NHL seasons, Näslund left the Canadiens to return to Europe. He played one year in Switzerland, followed by three seasons in his native Sweden. He returned to the NHL to play for the Boston Bruins in the lockout shortened 1994–95 season, and retired from hockey thereafter.

Näslund ranks twelfth on the Canadiens all-time scoring list, with 612 points in 617 regular season games.

Though sometimes assumed to be the brother of former NHL player Markus Näslund, the two are actually not related.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1975–76	Timrå IK	SEL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Timrå IK	Swe-2		17	15	13	28	—		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Timrå IK	SEL		35	13	6	19	14		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	12	12	24	19		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	18	19	37	34		7	2	2	4	4
1980–81	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	17	25	42	34		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Brynäs IF	SEL		36	24	18	42	16		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	26	45	71	10		3	1	0	1	0
1983–84	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	29	35	64	4		15	6	8	14	4
1984–85	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	42	37	79	14		12	7	4	11	6
1985–86	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	43	67	110	16		20	8	11	19	4
1986–87	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		79	25	55	80	16		17	7	15	22	11
1987–88	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		78	24	59	83	14		6	0	7	7	2
1988–89	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	33	51	84	14		21	4	11	15	6
1989–90	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	21	20	41	19		3	1	1	2	0
1990–91	HC Lugano	NDA		31	27	29	56	—		11	4	9	13	—
1991–92	Malmö IF	SEL		39	15	24	39	10		10	3	2	5	0
1992–93	Malmö IF	SEL		33	11	21	32	10		1	0	0	0	0
1993–94	Malmö IF	SEL		40	14	30	44	8		11	2	4	6	4
1994–95	Boston Bruins	NHL		34	8	14	22	4		5	1	0	1	0
Elitserien totals				294	124	155	279	145		29	7	8	15	8
NHL totals				651	251	383	634	111		102	35	57	92	33

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1977	Sweden	EJC		6	9	3	12	2
1978	Sweden	WJC		7	2	8	10	6
1979	Sweden	WJC		6	2	3	5	6
1979	Sweden	WC		8	5	2	7	8
1980	Sweden	Oly		7	3	7	10	6
1981	Sweden	WC		8	0	3	3	6
1982	Sweden	WC		10	2	4	6	6
1983	Sweden	WC		10	3	4	7	2
1984	Sweden	CC		8	2	3	5	6
1987	Sweden	CC		6	1	2	3	2
1991	Sweden	WC		10	3	5	8	0
1991	Sweden	CC		6	1	3	4	0
1992	Sweden	Oly		8	1	5	6	27
1994	Sweden	Oly		8	0	7	7	0
Junior totals				19	13	14	27	14
Senior totals				89	21	45	66	63

International career

Mats Näslund

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Men's Ice hockey
	1994 Lillehammer	Sweden
	1980 Lake Placid	Sweden
World Championships
	1991 Finland	Sweden
	1981 Sweden	Sweden
	1979 Soviet Union	Sweden

Näslund is one of Swedish hockey's all-time great players, and as such represented his country at numerous international tournaments. As a junior, he represented Sweden at the 1978 and 1979 World Junior Hockey Championship, winning a silver medal in 1978 and a bronze medal the following year.

Näslund would go on to participate in five World Hockey Championships, winning a bronze in 1979, a silver in 1981 and a gold in 1991, his last appearance at the event. Because the World Championships occur at the same time as the Stanley Cup playoffs, Näslund was often not available for the event during his best years in Montreal. His sole appearance as an active NHL player came in 1983.

Näslund did get the chance to play for Sweden against the NHL's best players at the 1984, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup, the forerunner to the World Cup. The Swedes lost to Canada in the finals of the 1984 event. They reached the semifinal game in both 1987 and 1991, losing to the USSR and Canada respectively.

Näslund also participated in two Winter Olympics, in 1980 and 1994. Sweden won the bronze medal in 1980 and the gold medal in 1994, that year defeating Canada in a memorable shootout. The gold medal in 1994 gave Näslund the distinction of having won the Stanley Cup, World Championship and Olympic Championship in his career, and (along with Håkan Loob and Tomas Jonsson) becoming the first member(s) of the Triple Gold Club.

As general manager for the Swedish national men's ice hockey team, Näslund helped construct the gold medal-winning team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Awards, honors and championships

• World Junior Ice Hockey Championship All-Star Team, 1978
• Golden Puck (Swedish Player of the Year), 1980
• Swedish league champion, 1980, 1992, 1994
• NHL All-Rookie Team, 1983
• Played in NHL All-Star Game, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989 (injured, did not play)
• Viking Award (for the best Swede in the NHL), 1985, 1986
• NHL Second All-Star Team, 1986
• Stanley Cup champion, 1986
• Lady Byng Trophy, 1988
• World Champion, 1991
• Olympic gold medal, 1994

External links

• Mats Näslund's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Anders Kallur	Golden Puck 1980	Succeeded by Peter Lindmark
Preceded by Joe Mullen	Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 1988	Succeeded by Joe Mullen