Calle Erik Ridderwall (born 28 May 1988) 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 ...

winger who most notably played in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL) and

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL).

Playing career

Undrafted, Ridderwall played amateur hockey in the United States, before attending and participating in collegiate hockey with the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in the CCHA. While attending the Mendoza College of Business, Ridderwall played in two

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

championships. In the 2008 Frozen Four, Ridderwall scored the game winning goal in overtime to send the Fighting Irish to the semifinals. Upon graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in finance, Ridderwall made his professional debut in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

with the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Providence, Rhode Island. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hi ...

. After a single season within the AHL and without securing an NHL contract, Ridderwall returned to Europe and made his

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

debut playing with

Düsseldorfer EG Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft or Düsseldorfer EG (short DEG) is a German professional ice hockey team in Düsseldorf. It was Germany's most successful hockey club for a long time and had many international players. The famous Eisstadion at th ...

during the 2012–13 season. Ridderwall enjoyed a largely successful season with DEG, finishing the year with an impressive 22 goals and 58 points in only 51 games to lead the entire DEL in scoring. He was then signed to a lucrative

contract with Czech club,

HC Lev Praha Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) was a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. In their two seasons played, Le ...

on 15 April 2013. On 8 July 2014, after only signing a two-year contract extension a month earlier but with HC Lev Praha announcing financial bankruptcy, Ridderwall announced his return to Sweden in signing a two-year contract with HV71. After captaining

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

in his second season with the club in 2017–18, Ridderwall opted to return as a free agent to former German club, Düsseldorfer EG of the DEL, agreeing to a three-year contract on 2 May 2018. In the 2018–19 season, Ridderwall failed to match his previous offensive contributions from his first stint with Düsseldorfer, however still contributed with 28 points in 52 games. After a first round defeat to

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, DEL. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburge ...

, Ridderwall at the conclusion of the season requested his contract to be terminated from the remaining two years, in announcing his retirement from professional hockey to take up business opportunities back in the United States.

Personal life

Both Ridderwall's cousin Stefan Ridderwall and his uncle play hockey. Stefan played goaltender for

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous sea ...

in the Swedish Hockey League and his uncle Rolf Ridderwall won gold at the 1991 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1988 births Living people Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Düsseldorfer EG players HC Lev Praha players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Stockholm Providence Bruins players Swedish ice hockey forwards 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Tri-City Storm players HV71 players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic {{Sweden-icehockey-winger-stub