Andreas Johnny Lilja (born July 13, 1975) is a Swedish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played twelve seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

, and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

. Lilja was a member of the 2008 Stanley Cup winning Red Wings, and was one of several Swedish players Detroit boasted on their roster.

Playing career

Lilja was drafted in the 2nd round, 54th overall by the

in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. During the

2002–03 NHL season The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. League business Entry draft ...

, Lilja was traded to the

where he played for the remainder of the season. In the summer of 2004, he was signed by the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

, but never played for them because of the NHL lockout, during which he played for

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously p ...

and the Malmö IF Redhawks of Elitserien, as well as HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

. Once the lockout ended, he was signed to a one-year deal by the

. After playing in all 82 regular season games for the Red Wings in the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Na ...

, he was re-signed by the team to a two-year deal in the summer of 2006. Lilja was re-signed again to another two-year deal in the summer of 2008. Lilja won the 2008 Stanley Cup as a member of the Red Wings. He is also one of 9 native Swedes who played for the team at that time. On October 10, 2010, after being released from a tryout with the San Jose Sharks, Lilja signed a one-year contract with the

. Lilja signed a two-year, $1.475 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on July 1, 2011. On April 6, 2013, Lilja signed a two-year contract with

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

which begins with the 2013–14 season. He retired following the 2014–15 season.

Personal life

Lilja and his wife Lotta have two daughters. The family resides in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilja, Andreas 1975 births Living people Adirondack Phantoms players Anaheim Ducks players Detroit Red Wings players Florida Panthers players Grand Rapids Griffins players HC Ambrì-Piotta players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Los Angeles Kings players Lowell Lock Monsters players Malmö Redhawks players Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players Mora IK players Philadelphia Flyers players Rögle BK players Ice hockey people from Helsingborg Stanley Cup champions Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen