Kjell Håkan Dahlin (born 2 March 1963) 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 ...

forward. He played for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

in the

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 ...

in the mid-1980s.

NHL

Dahlin was drafted by the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

in the fourth round as the 82nd pick overall. Dahlin played in Sweden until 1985 when he joined the Canadiens. In his first season in the NHL, he played 77 games. He scored 32 goals and 71 points, tying a club record for points by a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

that fellow countryman and teammate

Mats Näslund Mats Torsten Näslund (born 31 October 1959), nicknamed "Le Petit Viking", is a Swedish former ice hockey player. He played as a left winger. Despite his small size at only five feet and seven inches, Näslund is best known for being one of th ...

set and also setting a club rookie goals record. His point total made him the top scoring rookie that season but an outstanding season by first-year defenceman

Gary Suter Gary Lee Suter (born June 24, 1964) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1985 and 2002. He was a ninth round selection of the Calgary Flames, 180th ove ...

kept Dahlin from capturing the rookie of the year honors. However, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. Despite his impressive points total during the regular season, Dahlin was held to just two goals and five points in the playoffs which saw the Canadiens go on to win 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 ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. In his second season, injuries limited Dahlin to just 41 games, and his point total dropped to 20. In 1987–88, Dahlin's third year, injuries again limited him as he played just 48 games this time scoring 25 points.

Back to Sweden

With diminishing returns and bad luck on the injury front, Dahlin opted to return to Sweden for the 1988–89 campaign. Dahlin rejoined Färjestads BK, the Swedish Elite League club team he spent three seasons with before joining Montreal. Dahlin played six seasons with them then retired from the game in 1994. Dahlin only played 11 games with the Swedish national team and never played with them in any major tournament.

NHL

Back to Sweden

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links