Mark Pederson

Mark Patrick Pederson (born January 14, 1968) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey left winger who played 169 games in the NHL. He has been serving as head coach of Danish side Esbjerg Energy since 2013.

Mark Pederson
Born	January 14, 1968 Prelate, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens Philadelphia Flyers San Jose Sharks Detroit Red Wings
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	15th overall, 1986 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1988–2005

Pederson was born in Prelate, Saskatchewan, but grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Playing career

Pederson was drafted 15th overall by the Canadiens in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. He spent played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings from 1989–90 until 1993–94. He saw action in a total of 169 NHL games, scoring 35 goals and 50 assists for 85 points.

In 1995, he took his game overseas and signed with Austrian side Villacher SV. In the following season (1996–97), he played for Färjestad BK in Sweden, before transferring to Zürcher SC of Switzerland. From 1997 to 2002, Pederson spent time in Germany, representing DEL teams Hannover Scorpions, Krefeld Pinguine and Adler Mannheim and won the German championship with the Adler squad in 2001. Pederson joined the San Diego Gulls in 2002 and had a three-year stint with the team. In the 2002-03 season, he led the Gulls to winning the Taylor Cup, while being named Playoff MVP and WCHL Forward of the Year.[1] He retired following the 2004-05 season.

Coaching career

Pederson served a four-year stint as assistant coach of ECHL's Bakersfield Condors from 2005 to 2009 and was the head coach of the Tilburg Trappers of the Dutch Eredivisie in 2009-10, while also coaching the Serbian national team.[2] After one season he left Tilburg and went to Japan where he acted as head coach of the Nikkō Ice Bucks[3] between 2010 and 2013.

Pederson took over the head coaching job at Esbjerg Energy prior to the 2013-14 season. After a runner-up finish in 2015, he guided the Energy to the Danish championship in 2016 and 2017.[4]

Legal Troubles

Pederson was suspended for two weeks in 2009 for an "internal matter" while working as an assistant coach with the Bakersfield Condors, which was revealed later to be due to antisemitic comments toward then-Condor Jason Bailey.[5] In January 2011, Pederson was named in a lawsuit filed by Bailey's lawyer, Keith Fink, alleging that his client faced "a barrage of anti-Semitic, offensive and degrading verbal attacks regarding his Jewish faith" from Pederson and head coach Marty Raymond.[6][7] Pederson, in particular, was named in the suit as having approached Bailey on one occasion to state: "oh, I got a (Facebook) friend request from a dirty Jew."[8] On January 27, ESPN.com released details of court documents filed by Fink and reported that the NHL is also now investigating.[9] According to a report dated November 8, 2011, Bailey voluntarily filed a request to dismiss all claims of discrimination.[10]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983–84	Medicine Hat Tigers AAA	AMHL		42	43	47	90	64		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		71	42	40	82	63		10	3	2	5	0
1985–86	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		72	46	60	106	46		25	12	6	18	25
1986–87	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		69	56	46	102	58		20	19	7	26	14
1987–88	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		62	53	58	111	55		16	13	6	19	16
1988–89	Sherbrooke Canadiens	AHL		75	43	38	81	53		6	7	5	12	4
1989–90	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		9	0	2	2	2		2	0	0	0	0
1989–90	Sherbrooke Canadiens	AHL		72	53	42	95	60		11	10	8	18	19
1990–91	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		47	8	15	23	18		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		12	2	1	3	5		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		58	15	25	40	22		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		14	3	4	7	6		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	San Jose Sharks	NHL		27	7	3	10	22		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		2	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL		62	52	45	97	37		12	4	7	11	10
1994–95	Kalamazoo Wings	IHL		75	31	32	63	47		16	8	4	12	2
1995–96	EC VSV	AUT		34	28	32	60	52		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Färjestad BK	SEL		30	7	4	11	26		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Zürcher SC	NLA		9	7	3	10	4		5	1	3	4	30
1997–98	Hannover Scorpions	DEL		39	19	32	51	55		9	1	6	7	6
1998–99	Krefeld Pinguine	DEL		50	21	27	48	40		4	3	1	4	4
1999–00	Krefeld Pinguine	DEL		44	20	17	37	80		3	2	0	2	4
2000–01	Adler Mannheim	DEL		42	7	7	14	16		11	3	5	8	4
2001–02	Hannover Scorpions	DEL		54	18	10	28	32		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	San Diego Gulls	WCHL		60	39	33	72	34		12	6	10	16	2
2003–04	San Diego Gulls	ECHL		70	44	37	81	38		3	2	0	2	0
2004–05	San Diego Gulls	ECHL		48	13	21	34	34		—	—	—	—	—
DEL totals				229	85	93	178	223		27	9	12	21	18
NHL totals				169	35	50	85	77		2	0	0	0	0

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1988	Canada	WJC		7	1	2	3	4

References

1. "San Diego Gulls Win 2003 Taylor Cup - OurSports Central". www.oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
2. "Mark Pederson coach Servië tijdens WK in Tilburg". Retrieved 2016-07-09.
3. Loonen, Joeri (2010-08-02). "Coming full circle". IIHF.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
4. "Esbjerg vinder mesterskabet for første gang i 12 år" (in Danish). 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
5. Rodriguez, Sabrina (29 May 2009). "Racist comments may have led to Condors coaches' suspension". Bakersfield Now.
6. Baxter, Kevin (26 January 2011). "Former Ducks minor league player says he faced anti-Semitic remarks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
7. "US Jewish ice hockey player sues club for anti-Semitism". BBC News. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
8. Cherner, Reid (26 January 2011). "Former Ducks prospect files lawsuit for anti-Semitic remarks". USA Today. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
9. Burnside, Scott (28 January 2011). "Details emerge of Jason Bailey's suit". ESPN.com. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
10. The Bakersfield Californian. "Ex-Condor's discrimination suit dismissed". The Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database