Leif Johan Rohlin (born February 26, 1968) is a 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 spent 2 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 ...

with the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

and enjoyed a long career in Europe. He is currently the General Manager of

VIK Västerås HK Vik (Old Norse: vík) means wick or bay in Norwegian and Swedish (''vig'' in Danish), and it may refer to the following: Places Iceland * Vík í Mýrdal, a village in southern Iceland Iran * Vik, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Norway ...

of the second level of Swedish ice hockey,

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen team ...

Playing career

Rohlin was selected 33rd overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the

, following a strong performance at the 1988 World Junior Championships. While considered a strong NHL prospect, he continued to ply his trade in Sweden with his hometown club,

Västerås IK Västerås IK (''Västerås Ishockey klubb'') is an ice hockey club from Västerås, Sweden. The team is currently playing in the second-tier league in Sweden, Hockeyallsvenskan. Västerås IK played 12 seasons in the top Swedish league Elitserien ...

. Rohlin's game would continue to evolve in Sweden, although he proved difficult for the Canucks to sign. By the mid-1990s, he had earned the tag of 'best defender outside the NHL'. Strong performances at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and 1995

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, along with a monster 1994–95 season in the Swedish Elite League in which he scored 15 goals and 30 points in just 39 games, helped cement this status. He was finally signed by the Canucks in the summer of 1995 at the age of 27. Rohlin entered the NHL with substantial expectations and, while he wasn't an outright flop, his performance did prove disappointing. His offensive game didn't translate to the NHL as well as had been hoped, and he lacked the grit needed to succeed in the more physical North American game. However, his solid puckmoving skills and positional smarts made him a useful depth defender. In 1995–96, he recorded 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points in 56 games for the Canucks. Following the season, he was selected to represent Sweden in the 1996 World Cup, although he would appear in just 1 game in the tournament. In 1996–97 he would appear in just 40 games, recording 2 goals and 8 assists for 10 points. Rohlin and the Canucks would part ways following the season, and he chose to return to Europe. Rather than go back to Sweden, Rohlin instead signed with HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss Nationalliga A. He would quickly establish himself as one of the top defenders in Switzerland, and helped Ambri-Piotta to two Continental Cups. He would also represent Sweden again at the 2001 World Championships. He would spend 4 seasons in Switzerland before returning to Sweden in 2001 to sign with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is name ...

. After a year at Djurgården, Rohlin would sign at

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of Eli ...

for the 2002–03 season before retiring. In 96 NHL games, Rohlin recorded 8 goals and 24 assists for 32 points, along with 40 penalty minutes. Altogether, he would record 270 points in 602 games over 15 seasons of top-level hockey between Europe and North America.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

Career statistics at eurohockey.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohlin, Leif 1968 births Living people Djurgårdens IF Hockey players HC Ambrì-Piotta players Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic ice hockey players of Sweden Olympic medalists in ice hockey Södertälje SK players Sportspeople from Västerås Swedish ice hockey defencemen Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players VIK Västerås HK players