Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Oliver Ekman-Larsson | |||
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Born |
Karlskrona, Sweden | 17 July 1991||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
Weight | 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb) | ||
Position | Defence | ||
Shoots | Left | ||
NHL team Former teams |
Arizona Coyotes Leksands IF | ||
National team |
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NHL draft |
6th overall, 2009 Phoenix Coyotes | ||
Playing career | 2007–present |
Oliver Oscar Emanuel Ekman-Larsson (born 17 July 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman[1] currently playing for and serving as an alternate captain of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Ekman-Larsson was originally selected sixth overall by the Coyotes organization in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Seen by many as one of the league's top offensive defenseman, Ekman-Larsson led the Arizona Coyotes in scoring consecutively in both the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons.
Playing career
Ekman-Larsson was selected sixth overall by Phoenix in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. On 24 May 2010, it was announced that the Coyotes had signed Ekman-Larsson to an entry-level contract.[2]
In the season following his draft selection, Ekman-Larsson produced the second most points among junior players in Allsvenskan[3] despite missing several games while competing in the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Sweden.
Ekman-Larsson recorded his first career NHL point via an assist on a Kyle Turris goal on 23 October 2010.[4] He then scored his first career NHL goal on 17 January 2011, against goaltender Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.
For the duration of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Ekman-Larsson on the last year of his entry-level contract was assigned to Phoenix's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates.
On 6 March 2014, Ekman-Larsson scored his 100th NHL career point in a 5–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. With Ekman-Larsson's contribution, it was the first time since 9 December 1998, that the Coyotes had defeated Montreal.[5] At the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, Ekman-Larsson finished seventh in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the League's defenceman of the year. His votes included three first-place votes, one second-place vote and two third-place votes. Keith Yandle, Ekman-Larsson's teammate on defence, finished 12th in voting.[6]
On 16 December 2014, during the 2014–15 season, Ekman-Larsson tied the Coyotes' franchise record for overtime-winning goals by a player in a single season after scoring his third of the season with 0.03 seconds left in overtime in a 2–1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.[7] Ekman-Larsson represented the Arizona Coyotes in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, assisting on a goal by Bobby Ryan.[8]
Oliver Ekman-Larsson finished the 2014–15 season with 23 goals and 20 assists. With this career milestone, Ekman-Larsson broke Nicklas Lidstrom's NHL record, becoming the first Swedish-born defenseman in NHL history to score more than 20 goals in a single season.[9] Ekman-Larsson's 23 goals were the most scored by an NHL defenseman that season, and tied Phil Housley's franchise record for most goals scored by a defenseman in a season.[10]
On 19 December 2015, during a game against the New York Islanders Ekman-Larsson scored the lone goal of the game, which proved to be the game-winning goal. With this goal, Ekman-Larsson surpassed Teppo Numminen's franchise record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman with the 20th in his career.[11] On January 12, 2016, Ekman-Larsson assisted on all three goals of rookie Max Domi's first career hat trick and would later go on to set a career-high four-point night by scoring the OT-winning goal against the Edmonton Oilers.[12]
On March 24, 2016, Ekman-Larsson inadvertently scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars. Initially credited to teammate Martin Hanzal, after further review the goal was shown to bounce off a Dallas player and into the net. With this game-winning goal, Ekman-Larsson set an NHL record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman in a single season with his eighth — surpassing Tim Horton, Al MacInnis, Ray Bourque, Derek Morris (ice hockey), and Dion Phaneuf. He is just the second defenseman in franchise history to record 20 or more goals in consecutive seasons, the other being Phil Housley.[13] Ekman-Larsson finished the 2015-16 season ninth in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy.[14]
International play
Medal record | ||
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Representing ![]() | ||
Men's ice hockey | ||
Winter Olympics | ||
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2014 Sochi | |
World Championships | ||
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2011 Slovakia | |
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2010 Germany | |
World Junior Championships | ||
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2010 Canada |
Ekman-Larsson represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior Championships, where he was the highest-scoring defenceman on the team,[15] scoring five points in six games.
At the 2010 World Championships, Ekman-Larsson played in nine games for the bronze medalists and was deemed to be Sweden's best player in the game against Norway.[16]
Personal life
Ekman-Larsson's maternal grandfather Kenneth Ekman,[17] also a defenceman, was selected to represent Sweden at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Swedish international footballer Amanda Ilestedt is Ekman-Larsson's cousin.[18]
In 2013, Ekman-Larsson founded OEL, a luxury clothing line based out of Sweden.[19]
Records
Most game-winning-goals by a defenseman in a single NHL season (8).[20]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
2007–08 | Tingsryds AIF | Div.1 | 27 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008–09 | Leksands IF | Allsv | 39 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2009–10 | Leksands IF | Allsv | 42 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2010–11 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 48 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2010–11 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 15 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2011–12 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 82 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 32 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ||
2012–13 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 20 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2012–13 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 48 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2013–14 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 80 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2014–15 | Arizona Coyotes | NHL | 82 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2015–16 | Arizona Coyotes | NHL | 75 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 415 | 76 | 133 | 209 | 268 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
International
Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Sweden | U18 | 5th | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |
2010 | Sweden | WJC | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | |
2010 | Sweden | WC | ![]() |
9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
2011 | Sweden | WC | ![]() |
7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
2014 | Sweden | Oly | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
2015 | Sweden | WC | 5th | 8 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 6 | |
2016 | Sweden | WCH | ![]() |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
Junior totals | 12 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | ||||
Senior totals | 34 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 16 |
References
- ^ "Oliver Ekman-Larsson". eurohockey.net. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
- ^ Phoenix Coyotes (24 May 2010). "Coyotes sign first round draft choice to entry level contract". coyotes.nhl.com.
- ^ Elite Prospects. "2009 - 2010 Allsvenskan u20". eliteprospects.com.
- ^ "Hurricanes vs. Coyotes". coyotes.nhl.com. 23 October 2010.
- ^ "Coyotes Beat Canadiens for First Time Since '98". coyotes.nhl.com. 6 March 2014.
- ^ "Ekman-Larsson Places Seventh in Norris Trophy Voting; Yandle Places 12th". coyotes.nhl.com. 16 June 2013.
- ^ "Coyotes top Oilers in final second of OT". National Hockey League. 16 December 2014.
- ^ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=748017
- ^ http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nhl-west/pacific/oliver-ekman-larsson-makes-history-with-21st-goal/
- ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475171
- ^ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=793694&navid=DL%7CARI%7Chome
- ^ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=797383
- ^ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=875892
- ^ "Brent Burns finishes third in Norris Trophy voting". fearthefin.com. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "IIHF WJC Championship Sweden PLAYER STATISTICS BY TEAM 2009-2010" (PDF). IIHF.com. 11 January 2010.
- ^ "IIHF World Championship Best Players Per Game" (PDF). IIHF.com. 23 May 2010.
- ^ Ronnie Johansson (23 April 2010). "Eliteprospects.com - Kenneth Ekman". eliteprospects.com (in Swedish).
- ^ Jonsson, Fredrik (29 June 2013). "Ilestedt drömmer om en medalj i hemma-EM" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "OEL of Sweden". 18 December 2014.
- ^ "Ekman-Larsson set record with game winning goals". National Hockey League. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
{{cite web}}
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(help)
External links
- 1991 births
- Arizona Coyotes draft picks
- Arizona Coyotes players
- Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Living people
- Leksands IF players
- Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- National Hockey League All-Stars
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- Olympic ice hockey players of Sweden
- Olympic medalists in ice hockey
- Olympic silver medalists for Sweden
- People from Karlskrona
- Phoenix Coyotes players
- Portland Pirates players
- San Antonio Rampage players
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Swedish ice hockey players
- Tingsryds AIF players
- Swedish expatriate ice hockey people