| Ronald Pettersson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Pettersson in the 1960s | |||
| Born | (1935-04-16)16 April 1935 Surahammar, Sweden | ||
| Died | 6 March 2010(2010-03-06) (aged 74) Gothenburg, Sweden | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Right wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Surahammars IF Södertälje SK Västra Frölunda IF | ||
| Playing career | 1951–1967 | ||
Erik Ronald Pettersson (16 April 1935 – 6 March 2010) was a Swedishice hockey player. He played 252 international games for Sweden between 1955 and 1967, including thirteenWorld Championships and threeOlympic Games. Between 1951 and 1967 Pettersson played forSurahammars IF,Södertälje SK andVästra Frölunda IF. He won the Swedish championship twice, in 1956 with Södertälje and in 1965 with Västra Frölunda. He wonGuldpucken in 1959–60 as the most valuable player in Swedish Championship playoffs.[1]
After suffering a career-ending injury in 1967, Pettersson took on the role as head coach for theSwedish national junior team from 1968 to 1974, theSwedish national senior team from 1974 to 1976,[2] and theNorwegian national men's team from 1978 to 1981. He was inducted into theIIHF Hall of Fame in 2004,[1][3] and his jersey #14 was retired by Västra Frölunda in 2002.
Pettersson was born inSurahammar, a rural industrial town where the name Ronald was unusual, thus the locals nicknamed him Collman, after the famous actorRonald Colman. Pettersson was a natural athletic talent,[4] in his youth he played tennis and table tennis with good results. He started playingbandy as a goalkeeper since his skating was of poor quality, as he developed his skating ability he moved to the outfield. He played his first ice hockey game withSurahammars IF's senior team in an exhibition game againstAvesta BK during the autumn of 1952.
During the 1952–53 season Pettersson debuted at age 17 for his hometown teamSurahammars IF in Division 1, the highest level of ice hockey in Sweden at the time. He played five games, scoring no goals. The following season Pettersson played ten games, scoring nine goals, only one goal shy of the team's scoring leaderArne Holmgren. Surahammar were relegated to Division 2 for the 1954–55 season, where Pettersson set a new club record as he scored 23 goals in seven games.[5] In 1955 Pettersson left Surahammar as he was enlisted to do conscript service in theSwedish Navy, stationed in Stockholm's archipelago.[4] In Stockholm he was supposed to sign a contract withDjurgårdens IF, but rival clubSödertälje SK were faster with the transfer papers and Pettersson signed with them instead.[4] In 1956 he won the Swedish Championship with Södertälje, scoring one goal in the decisive game against Djurgården which Södertälje won 3–1.[6]
 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing Sweden | ||
| Olympic | ||
 | 1964 Innsbruck | Team |
| World Championships | ||
 | 1957 Moscow | Team |
 | 1958 Oslo | Team |
| 1962 Colorado Springs | Team |
| 1963 Stockholm | Team |
| 1965 Tampere | Team |
| 1967 Vienna | Team |
Pettersson played for Sweden in all thirteen international championships between 1955 and 1967, totaling 252 games for thenational team. Pettersson, a right winger, together with centreNisse Nilsson and left wingerLars Erik Lundvall, formed the legendaryungdomskedjan (youth line), one of the most successful and considered as Tre Kronor's best line ever.[4][7]
He made his debut for Juniorkronorna in February 1954,[4] and for Tre Kronor when they played two games againstNorway in Stockholm on 26 and 27 November 1954.[4] He was selected to Tre Kronor's roster for the 1955 World Championship, he scored his first tournament goal, assisted bySven "Tumba" Johansson, in a 9–0 win againstPoland in the last game of the championship.
Pettersson was a hard-working right winger,[4] who played an efficient game and made every minute on the ice count. He was a fast skater, and had a well-developed goal-scoring ability.[4]
With his 252 games Pettersson is ranked fourth all-time in games played for Tre Kronor.[8] His feat was long considered an unbreakable record, but he was surpassed byThomas Rundqvist in 1993 and later byJonas Bergqvist andJörgen Jönsson.
He was inducted to theInternational Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF)Hall of Fame in 2004.[9][10]
He became the fiftieth ice hockey player to receiveStora Grabbars Märke.
His jersey #14 is retired by Frölunda.[9] In 2003 he was inducted as an honour member in Surahammars IF.[11]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1952–53 | Surahammars IF | Division 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1953–54 | Surahammars IF | Division 1 | 10 | 9 | — | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1954–55 | Surahammars IF | Division 2 | 7 | 23 | — | 23 | 8 | 2 | 4 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1955–56 | Södertälje SK | Division 1 | 10 | 11 | — | 11 | — | 6 | 8 | — | 8 | — | ||
| 1956–57 | Södertälje SK | Division 1 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1957–58 | Södertälje SK | Division 1 | 14 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 1958–59 | Södertälje SK | Division 1 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1959–60 | Södertälje SK | Division 1 | 14 | 19 | 16 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 12 | ||
| 1960–61 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 2 | 14 | 33 | — | 33 | — | 6 | 9 | — | 9 | — | ||
| 1961–62 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 22 | — | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 13 | 23 | 14 | 37 | — | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | — | ||
| 1963–64 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 21 | 20 | 10 | 30 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 1965–66 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 21 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 6 | ||
| 1966–67 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1967–68 | Västra Frölunda IF | Division 1 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Division 1 totals | 198 | 183 | 129 | 312 | 105 | 67 | 58 | 19 | 77 | 22 | ||||
| Division 2 totals | 21 | 56 | — | 56 | 8 | 8 | 13 | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Tre Kronor | WC | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — |
| 1956 | Tre Kronor | OG | 9 | 5 | 0 | 5 | — |
| 1957 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 9 | 7 | 16 | — |
| 1958 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| 1959 | Tre Kronor | WC | 8 | 6 | 0 | 6 | — |
| 1960 | Tre Kronor | OG | 7 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| 1961 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | — |
| 1962 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 1963 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 1964 | Tre Kronor | OG | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 1965 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 1966 | Tre Kronor | WC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1967 | Tre Kronor | WC | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Senior career* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1961 | IFK Göteborg | 14 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Pettersson had a two-year stint withIFK Göteborg inAllsvenskan,[12] the top-level football league in Sweden. When Pettersson was acquired by Västra Frölunda IF in 1960, Västra Frölunda's managerAnders Bernmar had talked IFK Göteborg into helping Västra Frölunda with the acquisition, after convincing them that Pettersson not only was a good ice hockey player but a good football player too.[13] During the1960 season, his first season with IFK, he scored two goals in eight matches in Allsvenskan, and fourteen goals in seven friendly matches. IFK Göteborg finished eight in Allsvenskan. Thefollowing season Pettersson scored two goals in six matches in Allsvenskan and matched the numbers in friendly matches. IFK Göteborg won bronze this season, Västra Frölunda had won promotion to Division 1 in ice hockey and Pettersson did not play football again.[12]
| Preceded by | Golden Puck 1960 | Succeeded by |