Inge Hammarström

Hans Inge Hammarström (born January 20, 1948) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey left winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. He is currently a European scout with the Vancouver Canucks.[1]

Inge Hammarström
Born (1948-01-20) January 20, 1948
Sundsvall, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Wifsta/Östrands IF
Timrå IK
Brynäs IF
Toronto Maple Leafs
St. Louis Blues
National team  Sweden
Playing career 1964–1982

Playing career

Inge played his first ice hockey games at the top national league level in 1963 for Timrå IK, at the age of 15. The 1968–69 season he left for Brynäs IF where he would win the Swedish Championship four times (1970, 1971, 1972 and later in 1980).

In 1973, Hammarström became the first player from Timrå IK ever to play in the NHL. He went on to spend five seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and two for the St. Louis Blues.

His career ended in 1982, aged 35, after another three seasons with Brynäs IF.

Olympics

He competed as a member of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team at the 1972 Winter Olympics held in Japan.[2]

After retirement

After his playing career ended, Hammarström began working as a European-based ice hockey scout, including a stint with Central Scouting. From 1990 to 2008, he was the chief European scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.[3]

Most famously, Hammarström is credited with being the scout who pushed the hardest for Philadelphia to select Peter Forsberg with the sixth overall pick of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, the pick was considered a surprise — and a bit of a gamble. Forsberg had been ranked considerably lower by The Hockey News in its 1991 Draft Preview, and most observers expected the player to be taken late in the first round or early in the second round of the draft.

References
  1. Canada.com. Canucks send Dave Gagner to Finland, to make sure Forsberg gamble is worth taking Archived November 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed on November 6, 2009.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Pelletier, Joe. "Inge Hammarstrom". mapleleafslegends.blogspot.ca. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
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