Colorado Avalanche Great Peter Forsberg: 3 Fun Facts

Three fun facts about one of the Colorado Avalanche best-ever players, a legend, Peter Forsberg.

Colorado Avalanche great Peter Forsberg played 14 years in the NHL, mostly with the Avs, though he dallied with the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators. In 708 career NHL games, he amassed 249 goals and 636 assists for 885 career points. He won the Stanley Cup twice, both times with the Avs.

Those facts are well-known. They’re also pretty fun. However, there’s more to Peter Forsberg than his hockey stats. Let’s look at three fun facts about our Foppa, Peter the Great.

The Flyers Lost Out on Forsberg

It’s a well-known fact that Forsberg came to Colorado in trade. Well, rather he came to the Quebec Nordiques, who turned into the Colorado Avalanche. Eric Lindros was drafted by the Nordiques, but he refused to play for them. So, the Nords were forced to trade him for a package that included Peter Forsberg.

No shade to Lindros because he had an illustrious career with the Flyers. But he retired without ever winning the Stanley Cup. Forsberg was integral to winning that first Cup with Colorado — and thus bringing the first-ever sports championship to Colorado.

The Flyers did get Forsberg later in life. He played 100 games with the team that had initially drafted him. In that time, he earned 30 goals and 85 assists for 115 points. But that was in the latter half of his career, when injuries were already showing that his career was going to be shortened.

Forsberg is a Member of the Triple Gold Club

Peter Forsberg is an elite player on every level. He represented his home country of Sweden repeatedly through the years.

Forsberg played on many World Championship teams for Sweden. Two times, in 1998 and 1992, he helped his team win gold on that international stage.

Forsberg also played for Team Sweden for the 1994 and 2006 Olympic Games. Both those years Sweden took gold. Indeed, Forsberg is infamous for his 1994 appearance because of the audacious goal he made against Corey Hirsch to help Sweden beat Canada for gold.

And, of course, Forsberg won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. As such, he’s a member of the Triple Gold Club. He’s the only Swede on that list and a player who’s won each of those trophies twice.

Forsberg’s Son Once Owned Him

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Peter Forsberg wasn’t the biggest of players — 6-foot, around 205 pounds. And he played in a tough era of hockey — when the players had gotten especially big and were still allowed to clutch and grab during games. Foppa was far from a tough guy, but he showed physicality when it was warranted. And in the clutch-and-grab era, it was frequently warranted.

Forsberg is now well and truly settled. He’s back in Sweden — though he makes frequent trips to Denver — with a family. Naturally, his son plays hockey.

According to BarDown, Forsberg told a local Swedish newspaper about an exchange he had with his son. He didn’t want his son to “tackle,” or check as much in the lower leagues. His son responded with, “You did it all the time, Dad.”

Lennox has a point. However, Forsberg laughed it off and stated that he didn’t check “all the time.” He blamed YouTube for rolling all his big hits together.

The Colorado Avalanche don’t have as long and storied a history as, say, the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, we have our own legends, and Peter the Great was certainly one of them.