Niklas Sundblad (born January 3, 1973) is a Swedish professional ice hockey coach and a former Swedish professional ice hockey player.

Niklas Sundblad
Sundblad in 2024
Born (1973-01-03) January 3, 1973 (age 51)
Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for Calgary Flames
National team  Sweden
NHL draft 19th overall, 1991
Calgary Flames
Playing career 1990–2009

Playing career

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Sundblad started his career in the youth teams at AIK close to his native Stockholm. He made his debut in the Swedish top-flight SHL during the 1990–91 season. He was a first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames, 19th overall, in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

He headed to North America before the 1993–94 season and spent two years with the Saint John Flames of the American Hockey League, then an affiliate of the Flames. He played two National Hockey League games for the Flames in the 1995–96 season while continuing to get playing time in the AHL. He then opted to return to Europe.

Sundblad spent two years with HC TPS in Finland's top-tier competition Liiga, which included capturing the European Hockey League title in 1997 and a trip to the Liiga finals the same year, followed by two years in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with the Malmö Redhawks. In 2000, he signed with Düsseldorfer EG of Germany, before joining local rivals Kölner Haie, where he played from 2001 to 2003, winning the 2002 German championship with the Haie squad.

Sundblad returned to the Malmö Redhawks for a second stint in 2003–04. He played for Füchse Duisburg in Germany from 2004 to 2006 and spent time in Italy and Japan in his later playing days.

In 2006–07, Sundblad played for HC Alleghe of the Italian Serie A. On October 7, 2008, he left Alleghe and moved back to Sweden. After four appearances for AIK in the 2008-09 campaign, Sundblad called it a career and turned to coaching.

International career

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Sundblad has represented his native Sweden several times in international competitions. He won silver medals in both 1992 and 1993 at the World Junior Hockey Championships, as well as another silver medal at the 1997 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Coaching career

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On October 22, 2008, Sundblad was named head coach of Herner EV,[1] a minor league team in Germany. On December 3, 2009, he accepted a position as assistant coach with the Kölner Haie[2] organization of the German elite league DEL. He served as head coach on an interim basis, when the club sacked Bill Stewart in November 2010,[3] before returning to his role as assistant.

Sundblad left Köln after the 2012–13 season, taking up an offer from fellow DEL team ERC Ingolstadt where he became head coach.[4] After finishing the 2013-14 regular season in 9th place, Sundblad directed his team to one of the most surprising playoff runs in DEL history, making it to the finals where they defeated Köln to give ERC its first ever German championship.[5] Following the championship, Sundblad did not come to terms on a new contract with ERC and parted ways with the club.[6]

In October 2014, Sundblad was named head coach of Kölner Haie to replace Uwe Krupp who he served under as an assistant coach during his earlier stint with the Haie organization.[7] Köln were in 10th place in the DEL standings, when Sundblad was sacked on January 20, 2016.[8]

On January 5, 2017, he took over the head coaching position at Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).[9] He was fired from the role on December 4, 2018.

Personal

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Sundblad is the father of two daughters, Jessica and Madeleine.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1989–90 AIK SWE U20
1990–91 AIK SEL 39 1 3 4 14
1991–92 AIK SEL 33 9 2 11 20 3 3 1 4 0
1992–93 AIK SEL 22 5 4 9 54
1992–93 AIK Allsv 18 4 5 9 42 2 1 1 2 2
1993–94 Saint John Flames AHL 76 13 19 32 75 4 1 1 2 2
1994–95 Saint John Flames AHL 72 9 5 14 151 2 0 0 0 6
1995–96 Calgary Flames NHL 2 0 0 0 0
1995–96 Saint John Flames AHL 74 16 20 36 66 16 0 4 4 14
1996–97 TPS SM-l 50 15 21 36 93 11 2 2 4 24
1997–98 TPS SM-l 47 17 16 33 68 4 0 0 0 6
1998–99 Malmö IF SEL 43 21 12 33 104 8 1 1 2 12
1999–00 Malmö IF SEL 47 22 10 32 75 6 2 2 4 6
2000–01 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 59 22 22 44 54
2001–02 Kölner Haie DEL 59 20 22 42 87 13 3 8 11 32
2002–03 Kölner Haie DEL 52 7 11 18 30 15 0 1 1 8
2003–04 MIF Redhawks SEL 50 1 5 6 110
2004–05 Füchse Duisburg GER-2 49 14 21 35 76 12 0 5 5 10
2005–06 Füchse Duisburg DEL 51 5 7 12 81
2006–07 HC Alleghe ITA 32 15 19 34 40 18 12 11 23 36
2007–08 Nippon Paper Cranes AL 10 1 1 2 8
2007–08 HC Alleghe ITA 21 7 15 22 26 12 2 6 8 12
2008–09 AIK SWE-2 4 0 1 1 4
NHL totals 2 0 0 0 0
SEL totals 234 59 36 95 377 17 6 4 10 18
DEL totals 221 54 62 116 252 28 3 9 12 40

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1990 Sweden EJC 6 3 5 8 20
1991 Sweden EJC 5 4 1 5 38
1992 Sweden WJC 7 2 3 5 10
1993 Sweden WJC 7 0 3 3 10
1997 Sweden WC 11 2 1 3 22
Junior totals 25 9 12 21 78
Senior totals 11 2 1 3 22

References

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  1. ^ Niklas Sundblad neuer Trainer des Herner EV
  2. ^ Niklas Sundblad verlässt den HEV - Herne - WAZ - DerWesten
  3. ^ "Kölner Haie verlieren auch ohne Bill Stewart". General-Anzeiger Bonn. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  4. ^ EISHOCKEY.INFO. "ERC Ingolstadt: Niklas Sundblad wird neuer Chef-Trainer - Wechsel von Köln nach Ingolstadt". EISHOCKEY INFO. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  5. ^ GmbH, SPOX Media (4 May 2014). "Ingolstadt feiert seine Meister – Sport – Spox.com". Spox.com. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  6. ^ "Eishockey: Meister-Trainer Sundblad verlässt Ingolstadt". Der Spiegel. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  7. ^ Heinrich, Marc (2014-10-10). "Kölner Haie Sundblad löst Krupp ab". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  8. ^ "DEL: Kölner Haie werfen Sundblad raus". RP ONLINE. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  9. ^ "Nu är de nya tränarna på plats i Örebro: "Det finns mycket potential i laget"". Hockeysverige. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
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Preceded by Calgary Flames' first round draft pick
1991
Succeeded by