User:Harrias/Pelle Lindbergh

Göran Per-Eric "Pelle" Lindbergh (May 24, 1959 – November 11, 1985) was a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender who played parts of five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec orci arcu, vestibulum eget ultricies mollis, vulputate et arcu. Suspendisse scelerisque quam magna, eu malesuada quam hendrerit nec. Vivamus pretium tellus ut risus porttitor congue. Phasellus malesuada imperdiet odio quis pretium. Mauris eleifend dignissim quam, id condimentum diam feugiat sit amet. Curabitur consequat venenatis ligula, quis vehicula leo suscipit eu.

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Early life
Göran Per-Eric Lindbergh was born on May 24, 1959 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third child born to Anna Lisa (née Carlsson) and Erik Sigurd "Sigge" Lindbergh. He had two older sisters, Ann-Louise and Ann-Christine, fifteen and ten years his senior, respectively. When Lindbergh was born, his father hid a green and white Hammarby IF pennant inside the flowers he presented to his wife, having already signed his son up as a member of the sports club. For his fifth birthday, Lindbergh was given some goaltender equipment for Christmas; he later recalled seeing Seth Martin playing during the Ice Hockey World Championships and deciding at that point that he wanted to become a professional hockey goaltender. He began taking skating lessons at the age of seven with Hammarby IF.

In 1969, aged 10, Lindbergh joined the Hammarby boys team. He went on tours of Russia and Canada with the team, and hockey became his sole focus; he once wrote on a school exam paper: "This means nothing to me. I'm going to become a goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers." Curt Lindström coached Lindbergh during his time in Hammarby, and recalled that he was "something of a child prodigy", as he had a "phenomenal talent as a goaltender, even at that tender age." Although he was intelligent, Lindbergh did not apply himself at school, focusing only on playing hockey; his single-mindedness, and other habits, drew his biographer Thomas Tynander to speculate that he might have had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In 1974, Lindbergh took part in the TV-pucken tournament, but his team was eliminated in the first round. The following year, his side won the competition, and he was named as the best goaltender. Lindström showed Lindbergh tape of the Philadelphia Flyers goaltender, Bernie Parent, from the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals. Lindbergh subsequently ordered Super 8 film of both the 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup Finals from which he closely studied Parent's movements and style. As a result, Lindbergh adopted many of Parent's habits and techniques.

Early career in Sweden
In March 1976, Lindbergh, aged 16, made his first appearance on the international stage, travelling to Czechoslovakia to play in the 1976 IIHF European U19 Championship. Lindbergh played in three games for Sweden, who finished as runners-up, and he was named as the goaltender of the tournament. He featured in the competition again the following year, when the age group dropped from under-19 to under-18. Sweden won the tournament, winning all six of their games; Lindbergh once again played in three of the games, and allowed just three goals to be scored against him, and was once again chosen as the best goaltender. In late 1976, Lindbergh returned to Czechoslovakia with the Swedish junior team, to take part in the 1977 World Junior Championships where he played seven games and allowed 27 goals against, for a 4.05 goals against average. Sweden won three games and lost four to finish in fifth overall. He featured in the competition again the following year in Canada, playing in four games and posting a 2.50 goals against average to help Sweden finish as silver medalists.

His final appearances in the world juniors came in the 1979 championships, held in Sweden. Lindbergh played in all six of Sweden's games, and allowed twelve goals against, with a .926 save percentage. He was selected as the goaltender of the tournament, and helped Sweden to win a bronze medal. Lindbergh used the international stage as a platform; he had worn the Philadelphia Flyers logo on his helmet for a while, and when asked about it by North American journalists, he responded "I'm going to play for the Philadelphia Flyers." Lindbergh took another step up later in 1979, featuring for Sweden in the 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow, Soviet Union. Lindbergh played six games during the competition, but facing the strong Soviet Union team twice, he finished with a 6.33 goals against average and a .798 save percentage, to rank him thirteenth of sixteen goaltenders in the tournament. Nevertheless, Sweden finished the tournament third, and Lindbergh collected a bronze medal.

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft was held on August 9, 1979. Lindbergh was selected in the second round, 35th overall. He was the second goaltender selected, after Pat Riggin (33rd selection), and the second European, after Tomas Jonsson (25th selection). To help further his career, Lindbergh switched from Hammarby, who played in the second tier of Swedish hockey, to AIK IF in the top tier. Lindbergh played 32 games for AIK, recording two shutouts and a .869 save percentage.

Late in the 1979–80 season, Lindbergh travelled with the Sweden team to take part in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. In a preview of the Olympics, John Gilbert of the Minneapolis Tribune suggested that the Swedish team would be reliant upon Lindbergh in the tournament, while the United States' head coach, Herb Brooks, said that he thought Lindbergh was "small, quick, and has a tendency to go down and can be beat." In their first game of the competition, Sweden faced hosts, the United States. Lindbergh was described as "virtually unbeatable" by Chuch Stogel of the Poughkeepsie Journal, and despite facing a number of breakaway chances and shots from close range, he made XX saves to help Sweden to a 2–2 tie. In their subsequent group matches, Lindbergh made 23 saves during a 5–2 victory over West Germany, including a penalty shot save in the second period, and 41 saves in a 4–2 win against Czechoslovakia. Sweden qualified for the final group stage, where they had to face Finland and the Soviet Union. Lindbergh, who had shared goaltending duties with William Löfqvist during the initial group matches, played both matches, allowing three goals during a tie with Finland, and nine goals in a big loss to the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, Sweden's ties against the United States and Finland resulted in them finishing third, and Lindbergh collected an Olympic bronze medal. Lindbergh finished the 1979–80 season second in the rankings for the player of the year for the Swedish league.

Move to North America
In May 1980, the Flyers signed both Lindbergh and his international teammate Thomas Eriksson to one-way, three-year contracts. Neither player had been able to sign contracts earlier due to their commitments in the Swedish Army. The Flyers had reached the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals, partly due to good performances from their rookie goaltender, Pete Peeters. The team also had an established veteran, Phil Myre, so Lindbergh knew that he would be unlikely to make the team for the 1980–81 season. He was one of nine goaltenders who took part in the Flyers' rookie camp, and struggled to adjust to the narrower NHL size rinks. He played in the team's first preseason game, and gave away seven goals in a 9–2 loss; shortly thereafter he was assigned to the team's lower-league affiliate, the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Throughout his debut season in North America, Lindbergh earned plaudits from journalists, coaches and fellow players. In the first game of the AHL season, against the Adirondack Red Wings, The Post-Star described him as "solid, and sometimes spectacular", while the team's head coach, Bob McCammon said that: "Both goalies played well, but [Lindbergh] was something else." Later that month, he made headlines by saving 44 of 46 shots to help his team beat the Rochester Americans. After the game, one of the Rochester players Rob McClanahan said: "What can I say other than he's a major-league goaltender?" By December, Jay Greenberg of the Philadelphia Daily News described Lindbergh as "a sure-fire Hall of Famer", while the former goaltender Jacques Plante called him "the best goalie for his age" that he had ever seen. He recorded his first professional shutout in January, stopping all 31 shots during a 9–0 win over the Binghamton Whalers. Press coverage increasingly talked about him being ready to play in the NHL the following season, while both Joe Watson, a scout for the Flyers, and Anton Šťastný, a Quebec Nordiques player, suggested that he was good enough to be playing in the NHL already. Shortly before the trade deadline in March, the New York Rangers made an offer for Lindbergh, but the Flyers general manager, Keith Allen, turned it down and said that Lindbergh would not be traded.

The Mariners topped the Northern Division of the AHL to enter the 1981 Calder Cup playoffs as one of the top seeds. They defeated the Springfield Indians and New Brunswick Hawks in seven games each, but lost four games to two in the Calder Cup Final. Lindbergh won all the major AHL awards he was eligible for: the Les Cunningham Award for being the most valuable player, the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for being the best goaltender, the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as best rookie, and was named in the AHL first all-star team. During the off-season, there was speculation in the press that Lindbergh would play for the Flyers in 1981–82, forcing out either Peeters or Rick St. Croix. Before the new season, Lindbergh was selected to play for Sweden in the 1981 Canada Cup, where he expected to be Sweden's first choice goaltender, but he was rusty and outworked by the team's other goaltender during practice sessions. Lindbergh only started one match during the tournament, a 6–3 loss to the Soviet Union. The Swedish coach later recalled that "Pelle was a little shaky and he let in some really shitty goals."

Lindbergh had initially targeted making the Flyers team in the 1983–84 season, after three years in the AHL. His success during his first year altered his targets, and when the Flyers sent him back to Maine for a second year, where he felt he had nothing left to prove, he requested a trade. The Flyers general manager, Allen, once again rejected the notion of trading Lindbergh; "He's a valuable property, a major-league caliber goalie, and I'm not just dumping him off at the first opportunity." Allen accepted that Lindbergh nothing more to prove in the AHL, but said that he had not done enough to dislodge either of the Flyers' current goaltenders, Peeters and St. Croix.

NHL call-up
After a good start in 1981–82, the Flyers struggled, conceding 23 goals in three games: Peeters allowed 12 of those, and St. Croix 11. At the end of October, after a 8–4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, during which Peeters saved only 20 of 28 shots, Allen recalled Lindbergh to the Flyers and let him know that he would be playing the next night. Lindbergh made his NHL debut on November 1, 1981, against the Buffalo Sabres.

... before playing his first games for the Flyers in 1982.

Later NHL career
In 1983, he was named goalie of the NHL All-Rookie Team. He led the NHL with 40 victories during the 1984–85 season and won the Vezina Trophy, the first European goaltender to do so in NHL history. That same year, he was also named a First Team All-Star. Lindbergh was the first goalie to bring a water bottle on ice with him during NHL games. Lindbergh did this to combat severe dehydration he commonly suffered from. This practice first drew criticism from opponents and coaches alike, but is now the norm for NHL goaltenders.

Personal life
During the Swedish summer of 1980 he met Kerstin Pietzch, a member of Sweden's national windsurfing team, and convinced her to teach him to windsurf. One of his friends recalled that Lindbergh was "not terribly convinced that [windsurfing] is even a sport, but he sure thinks she's beautiful." The two continued to see each other through the summer, though Lindbergh was initially more invested in the relationship than Pietzch. They bonded over their shared focus on becoming among the best at their chosen sports, and though Pietzch eventually fell in love with Lindbergh, she accepted that when he moved to the United States in September, their relationship would probably come to an end.

Death
In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 10, 1985, Lindbergh lost control of his customized Porsche 930 Turbo and struck a wall in front of a Somerdale, New Jersey elementary school, critically injuring himself and severely injuring his two passengers. Although declared brain dead a few hours later, he was kept on life support until his father arrived from Sweden late the next day and his parents gave their permission to terminate treatment. He died on Monday, November 11 after a five-hour operation to harvest his heart and other organs for transplant. At the time of the accident he had just left the Coliseum, the former practice center for the Flyers located in Voorhees Township, where he was attending a team party. He was intoxicated at the time of the accident, with a blood alcohol level of .24%, well above New Jersey's legal limit (.10%) even at that time. Lindbergh is buried in Skogskyrkogården, a cemetery in southern Stockholm.

Legacy
Lindbergh topped the fan voting for the 1986 NHL All-Star Game. It would mark the first time that a player was chosen posthumously for an all-star team in a major North American team sport. Sean Taylor's selection to the 2008 Pro Bowl was the only other time this has happened.

Although his number 31 was never officially retired by the Flyers, no Flyer has worn the number 31 since Lindbergh's death.

Pelle Circle, a residential street in Far Northeast Philadelphia, was named in his honor when it was constructed in 1986.

In 2006, a Swedish biography entitled Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask was written by Swedish author Thomas Tynander. An English version was published in fall 2009. The English version was translated by Bill Meltzer and published by Middle Atlantic Press.

The Philadelphia Flyers named a team award, the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, in his honor. Since the 1993–94 season it has been annually awarded to the most improved player on the team.

Awards and achievements

 * Named best goaltender at the WJC in 1978.
 * Selected to the Swedish World All-Star Team in 1979, 1980, and 1983.
 * Selected to the AHL First All-Star Team in 1981.
 * Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award winner in 1981 (shared with Robbie Moore).
 * Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award winner in 1981.
 * Les Cunningham Award winner in 1981.
 * Selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1983.
 * Selected to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1985.
 * Vezina Trophy winner in 1985.
 * Played in 1983, 1985 NHL All-Star Games.