Maven's Memories: The Remarkably Underrated Stefan Persson

Ask any hockey journalist, executive or just plain NHL fan which Swedish player had the distinction of skating for four consecutive Stanley Cup-winners and the chances are that you'll draw a blank.
It was just that way with Stefan Persson. Stratospheric performances, but subliminal attention.
"Stef was so much better than people realize," says Glenn (Chico) Resch who played four full seasons with Persson. "For a goaltender like me, he was a dream come true. The guy simply did everything right and with little fanfare."

The same theme is expressed by Jim Devellano. In 1973, Jimmy D was the Islanders director of scouting and the man chiefly responsible for the Persson discovery.
Now executive vice president of the Detroit Red Wings, Devellano vividly remembers how Stefan wound up in Uniondale.
"It was 1973 -- only the Islanders second year of existence -- that I decided the franchise should have a scout in Scandinavia," Devellano recalls. "So, I hired a 'bird dog' by the name of Bjorn Salming.
"His job at the time was to scout all of Sweden and tell me who were the best prospects with a chance to help a National Hockey League team. The NHL then had 16 teams and none of them had a scout in Sweden."
Devellano's boss, General Manager Bill Torrey, seconded the motion and a figurative scouting net was extended throughout Sweden by Salming.
"At the time," Torrey later confessed, "we had no idea what the results would be, but it was worth taking the chance. After all, the Islanders still were brand new and we needed all the help we could get."
A native of Bjurholm, Sweden, Persson was encouraged to play by his father, Gosta. By the time Stefan reached his teenage years, it was evident that his talents were, to put it mildly, extraordinary for his level of play.
During the 1970-71 season, Persson played for the Pitea hockey club. He was 18-years-old at the time and would remain with Pitea for three seasons. He then moved up the competitive Swedish hockey ladder to Brynas.
Devellano: "By that time I had gone outside the box to see if I could steal a player or two from places where nobody else was looking. We had missed the postseason for our first two NHL years and were building toward our first playoff team.
"We had picked Denis Potvin first overall in the 1973 Entry Draft and we knew we had a winner -- a real foundation -- with him. And we were getting closer to a playoff berth when we got word from our guy in Sweden that he had a good one."
Persson was the man. During the 1974 Entry Draft, the Torrey-Devellano duo made hay. With the fourth overall pick, they nabbed left wing Clark Gillies.
And if that wasn't a gem, they selected center Bryan Trottier with the 22nd selection. They were batting a thousand -- two for two -- with future Hall of Famers.
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"But our luck didn't stop there," chuckles Jimmy D. "We stole another ace 'way down the line. We got Stefan 214th overall in the 14th round. Other NHL teams knew nothing about him, but for us, what a catch!"
Persson remained with Brynas through the 1976-77 season before making the jump to the Islanders.
"We already had a playoff team, starting in 1975," Resch remembers, "and kept getting better. In '76-'77 we wound up second in the Patrick Division but we were lacking a second top-line defenseman to take the load off Denis Potvin."
Torrey then executed what seemed a stunning move since hardly anyone in the NHL had heard of Stefan Persson. Bow Tie Bill reached across the Atlantic and signed the gifted 6-1, 189-pound Brynas defender.
"We wanted Stef to mature in Sweden before bringing him up to The Show," Devellano recalls. "And by 1977, he not only was ready; he moved into our lineup without missing a beat."
That being the case, one could logically wonder why Persson remained a significantly unheralded performer in relation to his accomplishments.
As a historian who chronicled the Islanders from the club's very beginning, I can point to a pair of reasons why this Sweet Swede was overshadowed. The answer can be found in two names -- Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy.
Potvin already had won his first of three James Norris Memorial Trophies as the NHL's best defender a year before Persson made his NHL debut. And Potvin continued to improve and gain a mortgage on the defensive spotlight.
Secondly, the season of Stef's debut, a rookie right wing so dazzled with his scoring that it was inevitable that Mike Bossy would capture headlines along with his linemates Trottier and Gillies.
"But right from his first NHL game, Persson did everything I wanted from him on defense," said coach Al Arbour. "He was responsible in his own zone; made terrific passes and would occasionally score a goal."
In any other season, Persson's body of work might have earned plenty of votes for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. But for the '77-'78 campaign, Bossy won it in a landslide while hardly anyone was talking about Stef.
Oh, excuse me, nobody but his teammates, his coach and his general manager who just adored the way he played the 200-foot game.
Torrey: "We finished first in the Patrick Division that season and Persson was a big reason why."

The Islanders totaled 111 points, third overall behind the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens (129) and the Boston Bruins (113). They had reached the NHL's elite status -- and so had the freshman from Sweden.
He finished his rookie year with 50 assists, a league record for first-year backliners.
But he didn't stop there. In the Islanders first game of the 1978 playoffs, the Nassaumen beat Toronto and Persson was named the contest's first star.
"Stefan was the missing link for our power play -- the good puck handler to work the point with Denis Potvin," said Arbour. "Opponents were keying on Potvin because we just didn't have the second good point man. It's been a pleasant surprise how easily he moved into the lineup."
Jiggs McDonald, the Islanders Hall of Fame Play-by-Play Broadcaster from yesteryear, rated Persson "the most underrated Islander" from his announcing days.
Jiggs: "The man was sooo good. His skating was exceptional and his passes right on the money. Look at the number of assists he put up during his career; many of them first assists, either by putting the puck on the shooter's stick or the shooter getting a great rebound opportunity because of Stef's shot.
"He was like an octopus too; could wrap you up defensively -- and legally. He was a huge factor in Cup wins and the regular season. On top of that, I liked him because he was so quiet and easy-going, too."
A proud warrior, Stef once allowed that he thought he'd been overlooked by the media during his first season in Uniondale.
"There were times when reporters would come into our dressing room and look over at me," Persson said, "and I could see they were thinking, 'I don't think he speaks English too well. I'm not going to take a chance.' So, they walked away and nobody talked to me."
Tweet from @91Butch: Stefan Persson, great player, very underrated https://t.co/YAPhFvawDa
That would change. In fact, I regarded Persson as one of the most insightful and articulate of the Dynasty dynamos.
In 1980-81, the Potvin-Persson power-play unit helped set a team record with 93 PP goals while converting nearly 30 percent of their chances. The beauty part was that Stef was no slouch at even strength.
Working with Dave Langevin -- Stef's longtime regular partner -- this No. 2 pairing would have been No. 1 with most other NHL teams. As one reporter noted: "Persson's passing and puckhandling skills were a perfect match for Bammer's physical style of play and ability to clear the slot."
Stefan galvanized the dynastic run in the 1980 Final round against Philly. In the opening game at The Spectrum, Persson's power-play goal with 3:42 left in regulation sent the game into overtime.
Captain Denis Potvin's red light secured the victory in the sudden-death segment. Typically, the captain got the headlines; but it was Persson who was the enabler.
Nonetheless, Stef was secure in the knowledge that he was a vital cog in the championship machine.
"He was a key in every one of our four Cup years," Arbour concluded.
Persson retired after the 1985-86 season. As one fan remarked, "Too soon to suit me."
Me, too.
Jimmy Devellano, who knows as much hockey as anyone, said it loud and clear.
"Stefan Persson was the best defenseman in Islanders history -- right after Denis Potvin!"