Gustaf Oliver Forslund (April 25, 1906 – August 4, 1962) was a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 right wing player. In the 1932–33 season, he became the first Swedish-born player in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

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Gustaf Forslund was born in Umeå

Umeå

- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...

 in Västerbotten, Sweden

Västerbotten

', English exonym: West Bothnia, is a province or landskap in the north of Sweden. It borders Ångermanland, Lapland, Norrbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is famous for the cheese with the same name as the province.- Administration :...

 to Lars Anton Forslund and his wife Ida Maria Fällman. When he was still a child, his family moved to Fort William

Fort William, Ontario

Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...

 and later Port Arthur, Ontario

Port Arthur, Ontario

Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...

.

Playing career

First playing professional hockey for the Port Arthur Ports at age 20, he transferred to the Fort William Forts one year later. In 1929 he moved to Minnesota to play for the Duluth Hornets of the American Hockey Association (1926–1942)

American Hockey Association (1926–1942)

The American Hockey Association was a minor professional hockey league that operated between 1926 and 1942. It had previously operated as the Central Hockey League , and before that as part of the United States Amateur Hockey Association. The founding president was Alvin Warren, who also owned the St...

. Playing 48 games for the Ottawa Senators in 1932–33

1932–33 Ottawa Senators season

The 1932–33 Ottawa Senators season was the team's 15th season in the NHL and 47th season of play overall. After a one-year hiatus, as the Senators had suspended operations for the 1931–32 NHL season, the team rejoined the NHL, and announced former Senators star player Cy Denneny as head coach of...

, Forslund became the first Swede to play in the NHL. He scored a total of 13 points, 4 goals and 9 assists.

He went on to play for the Windsor Bulldogs of the International Hockey League (1929–1936) and the Philadelphia Arrows and New Haven Eagles in the Can-Am Hockey League

Canadian-American Hockey League

The Canadian-American Hockey League, popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct ancestor of the American Hockey League....

. He ended his career playing in the Thunder Bay Senior League until 1941. In 1939–40, Forslund led the Thunder Bay Senior League with 39 points in 24 games.

After hockey

After retiring, Forslund helped organise youth hockey. After his wife died at 39, he was left to raise their two children alone. He died from a stroke in 1962 when he was 56.

External links

• Obituary at LostHockey.com