Erik Johan Mattias "Notan" Norström (born 2 January 1972) 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 ...

retired 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 ...

, currently working for the

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

organization. Norström began his

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 ...

career with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. However, he is most noted for his ten seasons as a member of the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

for whom he served as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

from 2001– 2007; he was the team's first non-North American-born captain. Norström played the final season of his NHL career for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

Playing career

AIK

As a youngster, he played for several years in the "talent factory" Huddinge IK although this original club was Mälarhöjden/Bredäng Hockey. In his teens he moved from Huddinge to

(Stockholm), where he started playing in the senior team from 1991. He was drafted in the second round, 48th overall, by the

in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who ret ...

and began his NHL career in 1993 with that team.

NHL

Norström split his time in the Rangers organization between the parent club and their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Binghamton Rangers The Binghamton Rangers were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Binghamton, New York, USA at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. History The market was previously served by: : Broome Dusters of the NAHL (1973 ...

. On 14 March 1996, he was traded with Nathan LaFayette, Ian Laperrière,

Ray Ferraro Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently broadcaster for ESPN/ ABC and formerly of TSN. He played for 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whaler ...

and a draft pick to the Los Angeles Kings for

Marty McSorley Martin James McSorley (born May 18, 1963) is a Canadian former professional hockey player, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 until 2000. A versatile player, he was able to play both the forward and defense positions. A for ...

Jari Kurri Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named on ...

and Shane Churla. In Los Angeles he developed into a solid stay-at-home defender and anchor of the Kings' blueline. On 1 October 2001, he was appointed team captain after

Rob Blake Robert Bowlby Blake (born December 10, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the current general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Kin ...

had been traded to the

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

. During the NHL lockout in 2004–05, Norström played with his previous Swedish team, AIK. The team was playing in the third-tier league, struggling to advance, when Norström arrived. He helped lead them through the playoffs, and to secure a spot in the second tier league the following year. Norström was originally appointed to the Swedish national team for the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin but had to withdraw due to injury. When Rob Blake returned to the Kings on 1 July 2006, Norström called him and offered the captaincy back. Blake refused at his presentation press conference and told the media that he regarded "Matty" as the obvious captain and the "core and soul" of the Kings. Norström was acquired by the

through a trade with the Kings on 27 February 2007, which sent defencemen

Jaroslav Modrý Jaroslav Modrý (born 27 February 1971) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Star ...

and Johan Fransson, a

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

first round draft pick, a 2007 second round draft pick, and a 2007 third round draft pick to Los Angeles in exchange for Norström, forward

Konstantin Pushkarev Konstantin Vladimirovich Pushkaryov (russian: Константин Владимирович Пушкарёв; born February 12, 1985) is a Kazakh professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing with HK Kurbads of the Latvian Hockey Lea ...

, a 2007 third round pick, and a 2007 fourth round pick. On 30 April 2008, he scored the game-winning goal (and first NHL playoff goal of his career) in the first overtime against the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, allowing the Stars to take a 3–0 series lead. On 10 June 2008, Norström announced his retirement from hockey. On 20 June 2011, Norström joined the

organization as a sports manager and sounding board for Anders Gozzi.

Career achievements

* 1992

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

– Silver medal

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

* 1997

– Silver medal

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

* 1998 IIHF – Gold medal

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, ...

*1999 NHL All-Star 1999 National Hockey League All-Star Game *

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

* 2003

– Silver medal

*2004 NHL All-Star 2004 National Hockey League All-Star Game

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norstrom, Mattias 1972 births AIK IF players Binghamton Rangers players Dallas Stars players Huddinge IK players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Living people Los Angeles Kings players National Hockey League All-Stars New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players of Sweden Ice hockey people from Stockholm Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen