Carl Christian "Calle" Johansson (born 14 February 1967) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former assistant coach with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

and 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 17 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 ...

between

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, most of it with the Capitals. He has worked as hockey

colour commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for Swedish Canal+ and worked as an assistant for six seasons for

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

in the Swedish

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

before returning to the Capitals organization.

Playing career

Johansson was drafted out of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

, he was picked 14th overall by the Sabres in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. His first season, 1987–88, was a good one, as he compiled 38 assists and 42 points and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. However, the next season he was traded to the Washington Capitals along with a second round draft choice in the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL entry draft was the 27th NHL entry draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the p ...

for

Clint Malarchuk Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992. He has been a coach for four NHL teams and two minor league teams, most recently the C ...

Grant Ledyard Grant Stuart Ledyard (born November 19, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Beginning his career in 1984 as an undrafted free agent, Ledyard spent 18 seasons in the NHL as a journeyman; he played at least one game with n ...

, and a sixth round draft pick in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Johansson prospered in Washington, as he became one of Washington's best defenceman over the next 15 seasons. Although he was behind the shadow of higher profile defencemen in Washington, such as

Scott Stevens Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey ...

Rod Langway Rodney Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Associati ...

, Kevin Hatcher,

Al Iafrate Albert Anthony Iafrate ( ; born March 21, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League between 1984 and 1998. He was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and grew up in Livonia, Michigan. Iaf ...

and

Sergei Gonchar Sergei Viktorovich Gonchar ( rus, Серге́й Ви́кторович Гонча́р, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪdʑ ɡɐnʲˈtɕar; born 13 April 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a Defensive D ...

, he was a solid contributor for the club. In the

1992–93 NHL season The 1992–93 NHL season was the 76th regular season of the National Hockey League. Each player wore a patch on their jersey throughout the season to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup. The league expanded to 24 teams with the ...

, Johansson was part of the defense core in Washington that set a new record for team defence scoring. Although Hatcher, Iafrate and

Sylvain Côté Sylvain Côté (born January 19, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 19 seasons in the NHL, the majority of them with the Washington Capitals. He also played for the Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Bl ...

all scored over 20 goals, Johansson helped get to the record with his seven goals. Johansson was part of the Washington team that made their improbable run to the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

finals in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, but the Capitals were defeated by the

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 ...

. Johansson retired after 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 ...

, but the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

persuaded him to come back and help their team in their playoff run the next season. However, the Leafs failed to win the Cup, and Johansson retired for good after the playoffs.

Television career

After retiring the second time around, Johansson continued to work as a

and did studio analysis during game intermissions on Swedish Canal+. He was doing both

and

NHL 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 ...

games and was one of the two main colour commentators at Canal+, the other one being former Tre Kronor coach Anders "Ankan" Parmström. Canal+ lost the Swedish broadcasting rights for NHL to the Viasat Group ahead of the 2009–2010 season. Together with former Canal+ commentator Niklas Holmgren, with whom Calle has developed a great chemistry when commentating, they subsequently signed for Viasat where they now continue in the same manner as when at Canal+.

Coaching career

Johansson served as an assistant coach with Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League in 2006–07. On 18 July 2012 Johansson was named an assistant coach to the Washington Capitals, joining former Capitals teammate

Adam Oates Adam Robert Oates (born August 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, former co-head coach for the New Jersey Devils and former head coach for the Washington Capitals. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (N ...

behind the bench. Two seasons later, on 23 June 2014 the Capitals announced that Johansson was leaving the team to rejoin his family in Sweden.

Awards

*Swedish Champion with

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan as of the 2024-25 season, but h ...

in 1987. *Named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. *Gold medal at the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1992 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 1992 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 56th such event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Teams representing a record 32 countries participated in several levels of competition. The competition also serv ...

. * Named to the

World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every three to five years from 1976 Canada Cup, 1976 to 1991 Canada Cup, 1991 ...

All-Star Team in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansson, Calle 1967 births Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Frölunda HC players IF Björklöven players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics EHC Kloten players Living people NHL first-round draft picks Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden Sportspeople from Gothenburg Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen Toronto Maple Leafs players Washington Capitals coaches Washington Capitals players Washington Capitals scouts