Daniel Carl Tjärnqvist (born October 14, 1976) is a Swedish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. His younger brother, Mathias, is an assistant coach in

Malmö Redhawks The Malmö Redhawks (colloquially referred to simply as Malmö or by past abbreviation MIF) are a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Malmö which plays in the SHL, with Malmö Arena as the venue for home games. The history of the te ...

in the Swedish elite league

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

Playing career

Tjärnqvist is considered a smart player who plays safe and is a good two-way defenceman. He was drafted by the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

as their fourth-round pick, 88th overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft; however, Tjärnqvist never played a game for the team. After four years with

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

in the Swedish

, Tjärnqvist spent three seasons with the

in the

; after the 2004–05 lockout he played for the

. On July 6, 2006, Tjärnqvist signed a one-year deal with the

. Daniel established himself in the Oilers defense until he was beset with a pubic bone injury, missing the majority of the

2006–07 NHL season The 2006–07 NHL season was the 90th season of operation (89th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim officially shortened their name to the Anaheim Ducks prior to the season. The 2007 Stanley Cup pla ...

. Tjärnqvist, a free agent, then spent the 2007–08 season in the

Russian Super League The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

reportedly signing with

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

, before formally signing a contract with

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (, ), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a professional ice hockey club based in Yaroslavl, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its ...

. On July 3, 2008, with the option to remain in Russia, Tjärnqvist instead came back for a second stint in the NHL, signing a one-year contract with the

. Tjärnqvist was used primarily as a reserve defenseman before succumbing to a concussion to end his 2008–09 campaign. On May 24, 2009, Tjärnqvist signed a one-year contract to return to Russia with his previous team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, for the 2009–10 season. Establishing himself as Lokomotiv's best defensive defender, he appeared in 54 games, notching 10 points and adding 3 more in Yaroslavl's run to the Western Conference finals. On June 18, 2010, he was re-signed by the KHL team to a further one-year deal. On June 27, 2011, Tjärnqvist returned to

in Swedish

signing a one plus one optional year contract. As an Alternate captain with the club, he was primarily used as a stay at home defenseman and produced 14 points in 45 games during the 2011–12 season. On May 12, 2012, Tjärnqvist opted not to extend his contract in Sweden and signed a one-year deal with a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

club,

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...

, of the DEL. Upon spending the 2014–15 season with Haie, Tjärnqvist sat out the following season as a free agent before announcing his retirement from professional hockey on June 1, 2016.

Records

* First Swedish player to win the SM-liiga (1997).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

champion with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

in 1997. * Elitserien playoff winner with

in 2000 and 2001. * World Championship's Best Defenceman in 2002. * Olympic gold medal at the

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tjarnqvist, Daniel 1976 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Colorado Avalanche players Columbus Blue Jackets coaches Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Edmonton Oilers players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Florida Panthers draft picks Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Jokerit players Kölner Haie players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Minnesota Wild players Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Umeå Rögle BK players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen