Lars Ricard Persson (born August 24, 1969) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 ...

player. Persson played in the

NHL 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 New Jersey Devils,

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

, and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

Playing career

Persson was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round, 23rd overall in the

1987 NHL Entry Draft The 1987 NHL Entry Draft was the 25th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and was the first draft held in the United States. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into p ...

. Rather than join the Devils though Persson chose to stay in his native Sweden where he played in the Elitserien where played for eight seasons, six with

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...

and two with

Malmö IF Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popu ...

. The 1994–1995 season finally saw Persson arrive to North America when he joined the Albany River Rats of the AHL for the playoffs after finishing the regular season in Sweden. Persson then played the majority of the following season with the River Rats but also made his NHL debut with the Devils, appearing in 12 games. The 1996–1997 season saw Persson start the year off with the River Rats, along with one game with the Devils, before he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. With the Blues Persson had a chance to crack the starting lineup. He played the majority of his NHL career with the Blues but thanks to injuries and numerous stints with the Blues minor league affiliate

Worcester IceCats The Worcester IceCats were a US ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Worcester Centrum. In 2005 the team was renamed the Peoria Rivermen and moved to Peoria, Illinois. History The IceCats ...

never played more than 54 games in a season. He recorded the primary assist of a series winning goal during the first overtime of game 7 of the Blues' first round matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999 when his shot from the top of the faceoff circle was deflected into the net by Pierre Turgeon. Prior to the 2000–2001 season Persson signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators. During his first year though he missed the majority of the games due to an ankle injury, and the following season he was a healthy reserve for the majority of the season. After taking a foolish penalty for a check on

Tie Domi Tahir "Tie" Domi (born November 1, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Known as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a 16-year NHL career. He is the Maple Leafs' all ti ...

, he was widely blamed for the Senators' losing a playoff series to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ending the Senators hope for a Stanley Cup that season. Domi would later admit in his autobiography to throwing himself to the boards intentionally to draw the penalty. Following his two years with the Senators, Persson played in Germany with

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also o ...

for three years. He then played in Austria for EC KAC before joining the

Oji Eagles Red Eagles Hokkaido (レッドイーグルス北海道) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tomakomai city on Hokkaidō, Japan. They are members of the Asia League Ice Hockey. History The club was founded as the Oji Eagles in 1925. They h ...

of the Asia League Ice Hockey, spending two seasons with each team. He would play one more season afterwards in Italy for

SG Cortina Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is an ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at ''Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio'', located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. They currently play in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A. Achievemen ...

before retiring.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Ricard 1969 births Living people Albany River Rats players SG Cortina players Eisbären Berlin players EC KAC players Leksands IF players Malmö Redhawks players Minnesota Wild scouts New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players Oji Eagles players Ottawa Senators players People from Östersund St. Louis Blues players Swedish ice hockey defencemen Worcester IceCats players Sportspeople from Jämtland County