Hans Inge Hammarström (born 20 January 1948) 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 ...

left winger. He played six seasons 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) for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and St. Louis Blues between 1973 and 1979. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1964 to 1982, was spent in the Swedish Division 1 and Elitserien, the top leagues at the time. Internationally Hammarström played for the Swedish national team at several tournaments, including the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

and five World Championships. After retiring Hammarström worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

Playing career

Hammarström played his first ice hockey games at the top national league level in 1963 for

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous sea ...

, at the age of 15. The 1968–69 season he left for Brynäs IF where he would win the Swedish Championship four times (1970, 1971, 1972 and later in 1980). In

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, Hammarström became the first player from Timrå IK ever to play in the NHL. Along with

Börje Salming Anders Börje Salming ( ; 17 April 1951 – 24 November 2022) was a Swedish ice hockey player. He was a defenceman who played professionally for 23 seasons, for the clubs Brynäs IF, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and AIK Hockey, AIK. H ...

, he was also one of the first two Europeans to play with the

. Both Hammarström and Salming had to debunk the misconception among Canadians in the NHL of the "chicken Swede." An example came from Maple Leafs team owner

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

who once complained, "Hammarstrom could go into the corner with a dozen eggs in his pocket and not break one of them." He went on to spend four seasons with the Maple Leafs and two for the St. Louis Blues. He had been traded from the Maple Leafs to the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

for

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

on 1 November 1977. His career ended in 1982, aged 35, after another three seasons with Brynäs IF.

Olympics

He competed as a member of the

Sweden men's national ice hockey team The Sweden men's national ice hockey team () is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called " Big Six", the unofficial group of the six ...

at the

held in Japan.

After retirement

After his playing career ended, Hammarström began working as a European-based ice hockey scout, including a stint with Central Scouting. From 1990 to 2008, he was the chief European scout for the

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 (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

. He also worked with the

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

from 2008 to 2018. Hammarström is credited with being the scout who pushed the hardest for Philadelphia to select Peter Forsberg with the sixth overall pick of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, the pick was considered a surprise. Forsberg had been ranked considerably lower by ''

The Hockey News ''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a reader ...

'' in its 1991 Draft Preview, and most observers expected the player to be taken late in the first round or early in the second round of the draft.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammarstrom, Inge 1948 births Living people Brynäs IF players Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden Ice hockey people from Sundsvall Philadelphia Flyers scouts St. Louis Blues players Swedish ice hockey left wingers Timrå IK players Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks scouts