Andreas Johnny Lilja (born July 13, 1975) is a Swedish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who played twelve seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

. Lilja was a member of the 2008 Stanley Cup winning Red Wings, and was one of several Swedish players Detroit boasted on their roster.

Playing career

Lilja was drafted in the 2nd round, 54th overall by the

in the

2000 NHL Entry Draft The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was the 38th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24 and 25, 2000 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. T ...

. 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 The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

, but never played for them because of the

NHL lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four labour actions in the history of the National Hockey League: * The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season * The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the games of ...

, during which he played for

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously ...

and the Malmö IF Redhawks of Elitserien, as well as HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

. Once the lockout ended, he was signed to a one-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 The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Natio ...

, he was re-signed by the team to a two-year deal in the summer of 2006. Lilja was re-signed 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. 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. Lilja signed a two-year, $1.475 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on July 1, 2011. On April 6, 2013, Lilja signed a two-year contract with

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

which begins with the 2013–14 season. He retired following the 2014–15 season.

Personal life

Lilja and his wife Lotta have two daughters. The family resides in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along t ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilja, Andreas 1975 births Living people Adirondack Phantoms players Anaheim Ducks players Detroit Red Wings players Florida Panthers players Grand Rapids Griffins players HC Ambrì-Piotta players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Los Angeles Kings players Lowell Lock Monsters players Malmö Redhawks players Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players Mora IK players Philadelphia Flyers players Rögle BK players Sportspeople from Helsingborg Stanley Cup champions Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen