Kenny Per Anders Jönsson (born October 6, 1974) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player.

Playing career

Jönsson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1st round as the 12th overall selection in the

1993 NHL Entry Draft The 1993 NHL Entry Draft was the 31st NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 26, 1993, at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec. First overall pick Alexandre Daigle is widely regarded today as one of the all-time greatest draft busts ...

. After playing with the Toronto club during the 1994–95 lockout shortened season, he was traded midway through the 1995–96 season to the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

in a player exchange which brought highly popular former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Wendel Clark back to Toronto. Jönsson then spent the remainder of his NHL career with the Islanders. After playing with the Swedish second division team Rögle BK, where he started his career, during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, he announced in the summer of 2005 that he was staying with the club for the 2005–06 season. Jönsson played with the Islanders from 1996 through

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Fans and journalists considered Jönsson one of the most underrated defensemen in the league during his time in the NHL. He played good positional defense and had sound offensive skills as well, but his quiet demeanor and low-key playing style kept him below the radar of some observers. During the

1999–2000 NHL season The 1999–2000 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers, 28 teams each played 82 games. This was the first season played in which teams were awarded a point for an ...

, Jönsson was named captain of the Islanders. After a season and a half, he stepped down and ultimately was succeeded by

Michael Peca Michael Anthony Peca (born March 26, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Lea ...

. He was voted Best Defender of the Tournament at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

where

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

won the gold medal. This was quite surprising considering he had spent a season in the Swedish second division, while most of the other players played in the NHL. His brother

Jörgen Jörgen is a village in the municipality of Tieschen in the ''District (Austria), Bezirk'' of Südoststeiermark District, Südoststeiermark in the Styria, Federal State of Styria in Austria. Its population was 159 in 2016. Jörgen is known for ...

is also a well-known Swedish ice hockey player; the two were briefly teammates in the 1999-2000 NHL season. During IHWC 2006 World Championship, with brother Jörgen initially sidelined by injury, he was named captain of the Swedish national team.

Coaching career

Prior to the 2010–11 season, Jönsson signed as an assistant

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of Rögle BK. However, after the end of the season, it was announced that he would leave Rögle as an assistant coach. Jönsson is currently assistant coach for Helsingborgs Hockey Club, educating the defense players.

Awards

* Elitserien Rookie of the Year in 1993. * Elitserien Junior of the Year in 1994. * Junior World Championship's Best Defenceman in 1994. * Named to the Junior World Championship All-Star Team in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. * Gold medal at the Winter Olympics in

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. * Bronze medal at the World Championships in

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. * Named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. * Bronze medal at the World Cup of Hockey in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. * Played in the NHL All-Star Game in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. * Silver medal at the World Championship in

. * Awarded Elitserien Guldpucken (Swedish Player of the Year) in

. * Winter Olympic's Best Defenceman in 2006. * Gold medal at the World Championship in

. * Named to the World Championship All-Star Team in 2009. * Member of

Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Kenny 1974 births Living people Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Islanders players Olympic ice hockey players of Sweden Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Ängelholm Municipality Rögle BK players St. John's Maple Leafs players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Maple Leafs players Sportspeople from Skåne County