Faceoff Factor

Don’t forget about Forsberg

Mike Wilson | National Hockey League

Mar 5, 05:30 PM | Hype this story!

Everyone’s attention in the Eastern Conference was focused on Sidney Crosby’s return to the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing over a month due to a high ankle sprain. But Sid wasn’t the only superstar making his triumphant return to the ice Tuesday night.

In Colorado, a much older legend was welcomed back to the National Hockey League: Peter Forsberg.

Leaving the Swedish League after the 1994 Olympics for the NHL entry draft, Forsberg was taken sixth overall in the first round by Philadelphia. However, he didn’t set foot on the ice before he became a part of the Flyer’s deal that sent him, along with Mike Ricci and Ron Hextall, to Quebec for Eric Lindros.

After staying one season in Quebec, the team was moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche.

Forsberg’s numbers shot through the roof.

He more than doubled his point total from 50 to 116. The 100 point mark was only breached one other time in his career in 2002-2003 when he obtained 106 points.

It wasn’t until the year before the 2004-2005 lockout that Forsberg started to cool down. His season was cut short to only 39 games, but in that span he still managed to collect 55 points.

Forsberg’s Swedish team, MODO, saw the same performance as his NHL team in Colorado. In his 33 games with MODO, Forsberg accumulated 39 points.

His stay at Colorado earned 2 Stanley Cups.

The addition of a salary cap in the National Hockey League ushered Forsberg to where he was drafted: Philadelphia. But the season and a half that Forsberg played for the Flyers wasn’t enough to keep him and he was traded to the Nashville Predators, where he was side-lined shortly thereafter for a foot injury.

Forsberg had been out for months due to injuries. Before he came back, he was skating with Swedish MODO and debating whether or not to even return to the NHL.

The decision came shortly after that he would return to the land of his fame: Colorado.

And so, Peter Forsberg, at the age of 34, is back in the National Hockey League once again. However, this time his Avalanche aren’t in as good a position as they were a few years prior.

They currently sit in seventh in the Western Conference with eighth place Nashville right behind them with the same point total of 76.

Forsberg’s first game back on the ice was a typical game. He managed to draw attention and let his team take care of scoring just as they had done without him. Forsberg is once again matched up with Joe Sakic and now also with Milan Hejduk.

He managed to make some nice passes and had some good looks at the net occasionally, but was unable to secure any points or break into the plus/minus category as he still sits at even.

Another familiar face came back to Colorado in defenseman Adam Foote, who came over with Ruslan Salei to strengthen the blue line.

Nonetheless, Colorado hopes Peter Forsberg will bring them back to the explosive team they were in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

To welcome Forsberg back to Colorado, the Avalanche defeated the Vancouver Canucks 2-1. They play host to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, March 6.