Victor Hedman

Victor Hedman
Hedman with the Tampa Bay Lightning in December 2014
Born	December 18, 1990 Örnsköldsvik, SWE
Height	6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Weight	232 lb (105 kg; 16 st 8 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Tampa Bay Lightning Modo Hockey Barys Astana
National team	Sweden
NHL Draft	2nd overall, 2009 Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career	2007–present

Victor Erik Olof Hedman (born December 18, 1990) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hedman was selected second overall by the Lightning in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Hedman with Modo Hockey in 2008.

Hedman in September 2011.

Sweden

Hedman began his junior ice hockey career in the Swedish J20 SuperElit with the Modo Hockey organization. He recorded 25 points in 34 games during his first full season in the league in 2006–07. Hedman then turned professional and joined the Elitserien with Modo at the age of 16. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, he was ranked first overall amongst all draft-eligible skaters in the International Scouting Services' preliminary rankings.^[1] In the same season, he was nominated as the SHL Rookie of the Year. Following his performance at the 2009 World Junior Championships for Sweden, Hedman was listed atop the rankings of European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Despite the unlikelihood of Hedman playing in Russia, he was drafted 83rd overall by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s Spartak Moscow on June 1, 2009.^[2]

Going into the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Hedman was listed as the second-ranked player and top European player. This led to him being selected second overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.^[3][4]

Hedman has drawn comparisons to Chris Pronger, who has a similar physique and was also drafted second overall.^[5]

Tampa Bay Lightning

Hedman made his NHL debut for the Lightning on October 3, 2009, against the Atlanta Thrashers. He registered his first point, an assist, on a Martin St. Louis goal. His first NHL goal was then scored on December 5 against Dwayne Roloson of the New York Islanders.

On January 5, 2011, during his sophomore NHL season in 2010–11, Hedman checked Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby from behind, receiving a minor boarding penalty. The hit was one of two that were eventually blamed for causing a severe concussion on Crosby that kept him out of play for over a year.^[6][7]

On November 29, 2011, shortly into the 2011–12 season, Hedman signed a five-year, $20 million contract extension with Tampa Bay. On September 25, 2012, it was announced that Hedman signed a contract with Barys Astana of the KHL during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. During the 2013–14 season, Hedman had a breakout season, posting a career best in goals (13), assists (42) and points (55).

Hedman followed up his breakout season with a strong start to the 2014–15 season. However, his start would be derailed after he suffered a broken finger, which was expected to rule him out of play for four-to-six weeks. At the time, Hedman was tied for the lead amongst NHL defencemen with seven points, and was considered a possible James Norris Memorial Trophy candidate for defenceman of the year entering into the season.^[8] Despite the injury, Hedman still had a productive season with the Lightning, scoring 10 goals, 28 assists and 38 points in 59 games played. After Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, Hedman had recorded the most points by a Lightning defencemen in a single playoff year, with one goal, 11 assists and 12 points.^[9] On June 8, 2015, during Game 3 of the Final series, Hedman set Lightning records for career playoff assists (20) and points (23) by a defenceman, surpassing Dan Boyle, who previously held the record with three goals and 19 assists (22 points).^[10]

On October 24, 2015, Hedman played in his 400th career NHL game in an OT loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.^[11] On December 20, 2015, Hedman recorded his 200th NHL point, which was an assist on a Nikita Kucherov pp goal. The point came during a 5-2 Lightning victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators.^[12]

International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Sweden
Ice hockey
World Championships
	2010 Germany
World Junior Championships
	2009 Ottawa
	2008 Pardubice
World U18 Championships
	2007 Tampere
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
	2007 Hodonín

Hedman played for Sweden at the 2008 World Junior Championships, where he helped the team to a silver medal, losing to Canada 3–2 in the final, and was selected to the tournament All-Star Team. He later became one of the youngest players to play for Sweden's men's team when he made his debut at age 17 in an exhibition game against Norway.^[13] Hedman would once again play for Sweden's junior team at the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa, where he met Canada for the second consecutive year in the gold medal game, earning another silver medal in a 5–1 loss.

On March 2, 2016, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association named Hedman to its roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Hedman will be joined by Lightning teammate Anton Stralman. The tournament is set to run from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016, in Toronto.^[14]

Personal

Hedman has two older brothers — Oscar Hedman, who is also a professional hockey player that currently plays for Modo Hockey; as well as Johan Hedman, who does not play professionally.

As a child, Hedman originally started out playing as a goaltender. His father, Olle Hedman, told his son that if he left the net, he would purchase him the new helmet that he coveted. He has not played in goal since that day. Victor said that "I'm thankful for that now. You never know what would have happened otherwise."^[15]

Hedman's other passions were flying (has logged eight hours on a Piper PA-32), and soccer. His father said that his son would just outrun everyone on the field. Hedman still plays soccer in the summer, and religiously follows the sport. In an article it was revealed that when quizzed on any player on any English Premier League team, he couldn't be stumped. His dad said that his son "probably knows more about football than hockey. However, Hedman knew that hockey was his future. He was encouraged by some of hockey's greats. The players would come back every summer and play for a team called the Icebreakers, inviting Hedman to play. Some notable players on the team included Peter Forsberg, Markus Näslund, Henrik Zetterberg, and Nicklas Bäckström. Hedman said that "looking back at it now, it was an unbelievable experience."^[16]

In 2014 Hedman started a hockey school in his hometown. The spots in the school sold out in two hours. Hedman said that "to see the thrill in the kids eyes, it's worth it all."^[17]

Hedman is from Örnsköldsvik and trains with the Sedin twins in the off-season.^[18]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2005–06	Modo Hockey	J20		10	0	1	1	8		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Modo Hockey	J20		34	13	12	25	30		5	1	1	2	44
2007–08	Modo Hockey	J20		6	2	1	3	26		3	2	0	2	4
2007–08	Modo Hockey	SHL		39	2	2	4	44		5	1	0	1	4
2008–09	Modo Hockey	J20		2	0	2	2	10		5	0	1	1	2
2008–09	Modo Hockey	SHL		43	7	14	21	52		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		74	4	16	20	79		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		79	3	23	26	70		18	0	6	6	8
2011–12	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		61	5	18	23	65		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Barys Astana	KHL		26	1	20	21	70		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		44	4	16	20	31		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		75	13	42	55	53		4	1	2	3	2
2014–15	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		59	10	28	38	40		26	1	13	14	6
SHL totals				82	9	16	25	96		5	1	0	1	4
NHL totals				392	39	143	182	338		48	2	21	23	16

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2007	Sweden	WJC18			6	1	2	3	10
2008	Sweden	WJC18	4th		4	1	3	4	10
2008	Sweden	WJC			6	0	1	1	4
2009	Sweden	WJC			6	0	2	2	6
2010	Sweden	WC			9	1	1	2	6
2012	Sweden	WC	5th		8	0	1	1	14
Junior totals					22	2	8	10	30
Senior totals					17	1	2	3	20

Awards

Sweden

Award	Year(s) awarded
Sweden's Junior of the Year	2009
Elitserien Rookie of the Year	2009
Guldpucken	2015[19]

International

Award	Year(s) awarded
World U18 All-Star Team	2007, 2008
World Junior All-Star Team	2008[20]

References

1. "International Scouting Services Preliminary Rankings". TSN. Archived from the original on October 19, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
2. "Tavares passed over in KHL draft, Hall taken by Ak Bars". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
3. "2014 NHL Mock Draft". My NHL Draft. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009.
4. "Tavares, Hedman highlight NHL mid-season rankings". TSN. January 12, 2009. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
5. Allen, Kevin (June 25, 2009). "Intriguing choice at No. 1 pick: Big-time scorer or franchise D". USA Today. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
6. Vince Massi (September 7, 2011). "Crosby Show has been must-see TV". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
7. Greg Wyshynski (January 6, 2012). "The Sidney Crosby concussion vs. the economics of the NHL". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
8. Peters, Chris (October 20, 2014). "Lightning D Victor Hedman out 4-6 weeks with broken finger". CBSSports NHL. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
9. Burns, Bryan (June 6, 2015). "Bolts even up Stanley Cup Final with 4-3 win over Blackhawks". Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
10. Burns, Bryan (June 8, 2015). "Cedric Paquette's game-winner gives Bolts 2-1 series lead against Chicago". Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
11. Hedger, Brian (October 24, 2015). "Toews gives Blackhawks win against Lightning". NHL.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
12. Long, Corey (December 21, 2015). "Stamkos scores twice, Lightning top Senators". NHL.com. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
13. Ek, Mattias (March 28, 2008). "Debut i Tre Kronor - som 17-åring" [Debut in Three Crowns - 17 years old] (in Swedish). Expressen. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
14. Peters, Chris (March 2, 2016). "World Cup of Hockey: Erik Karlsson leads loaded early Sweden roster". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
15. Smith, Joe (June 9, 2015). "Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman turning heads as playoff MVP candidate". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
16. Smith, Joe (June 9, 2015). "Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman turning heads as playoff MVP candidate". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
17. Smith, Joe (June 9, 2015). "Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman turning heads as playoff MVP candidate". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
18. Ziemer, Brad. "Hedman continues to be inspired by Sedins". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
19. Normally the Guldpucken is awarded to a player in Sweden, but Hedman won the award for his play in the NHL.
20. "Hockey Awards & Achievements". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011.

External links

• Victor Hedman's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
• Victor Hedman's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Victor Hedman profile at Eurohockey.com