DENVER, Colo – “I hope people here will remember that when I walked out of the rink, I gave everything.” And with that, Peter Forsberg was done.
His latest comeback attempt may have only lasted 35 minutes and 10 seconds, produced 3 shots, 3 hits and a -4 rating, but the chance to see the Swede in an Avalanche shirt just one more time meant a great deal to a great many.
Some were inspired by his perseverance and determination to get back among the games elite, some were swept up in nostalgia, and others just hoped the return of a franchise legend would kick start the Avalanches’ faltering season.
It’s not very often a player who notched up less than 1000 points and skated in fewer than 800 NHL games is mentioned in the same sentence as the words ‘one of the all time greats’ – but that was Forsberg.
After making his debut for the Quebec Nordiques in the shortened 94/95 season, in which he also won the Calder Trophy, Forsberg went on to play just 706 NHL games as his career was dogged by injuries, but scored 250 goals and 885 points in that time as well as winning the Stanley Cup twice with Colorado, two Olympic Gold Medals with Sweden, a Hart Trophy and an Art Ross Trophy.
His career is perhaps best summarised by the 2001/02 season – where he missed all 82 regular season games following ankle surgery but returned for the play-offs and scored 27 points in 20 games as the Avs made it to the Conference Finals. Few others would have returned from so long out to make such an impact.
For a time he was arguably the best player in the world, even one of the best two way centres of all time. Adam Foote, a team mate for many years in Colorado, once said “He can beat you so many ways; he can deke past you or skate right through you” such was Forsberg’s skill on the puck, but also his strength and ability to play the physical game. Perhaps more remarkable was what he achieved during a relatively low scoring era in the NHL, the ‘dead puck era’.
But a chronic foot ailment plagued the star from 2003 onwards, and hip injuries and groin issues also took their toll as the Ornskoldsvik natives career was repeatedly derailed by injury. Stints in Philadelphia and Nashville yielded 130 points in just 117 games following the lock out, but Forsberg seemed to be finished as his troublesome right foot continued to be an issue.
“We can fly to the moon, we should be able to fix the foot,” Forsberg quipped at the press conference held yesterday afternoon at the Pepsi Centre.
But they couldn’t fix it. He made a brief come back late in the 2007/08 season, playing in 9 regular season games and 7 play-off contests for the Avs before retirement appeared to beckon again. Brief stints with his boyhood club MODO in Sweden followed but injury continued to keep him sidelined.
A fruitless 2010 Olympic effort, which yielded just 1 assist as Sweden crashed out, signaled the end of the once great man for many. Again Forsberg defied them, as he took to the ice ‘one more time’ with the Avs in late January this year, to ‘test out’ that troublesome foot. Eventually he would sign and he made his season debut in Ohio as the Avs slipped to a 3-1 defeat against the Blue Jackets.
A second game in his former ‘home’ of Nashville, where he played 17 games for the Predators in 06/07, and that was that. That foot again. Numerous operations, various supportive braces and differing makes of skate, and it still wasn’t right.
“It’s been a problem and not one we’ve be able to solve. But it’s OK now. I’m happy with my career and move on from here,” said Forsberg, as he closed the final chapter on his playing career.
Taken 6th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991, he soon found himself in Quebec as he was dealt to the Nordiques as part of the Eric Lindros trade. Just 5 years later he raised the Stanley Cup above his head for the first time in Denver.
His #21 sweater is still one of the biggest sellers for the Avalanche and his number is set to be retired next season and despite seeing large chunks of his career lost to injury he is considered one of the best players of the modern era, perhaps of all time.
Contact the author: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com
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