Ricard Persson

Ricard Persson (Born August 24, 1969 in Ostersund, Sweden) is a professional hockey player who played in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Ottawa Senators. He plays defense and shoots left handed.

Persson was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round, 23rd overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than join the Devils though Persson chose to stay in his native Sweden where he played in the Swedish Elite League. Persson played 7 years in the SEL, 5 with Leksands IF and 2 with Malmo IF. 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 never played more than 54 games in a season.

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, 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.

Following his 2 years with the Senators Perrson played in Germany with the Berlin Polar Bears for 3 years. He currently plays with Oji Paper in Japan previously for Klagenfurt AC in Austria, a team he joined prior to the 2005–2006 season.

Career NHL Statistics

External links

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=18942 Complete Career Stats at Hockey DB]