Henrik Lundquist - the legendary "king" of Swedish hockey

Henrik Lundqvist is the goalkeeper of the Swedish national hockey team. At the club level, he defends the colors of the NHL New York Rangers. Henrik was born on March 2, 1982 in Sweden. In the big hockey, King Henrik has been performing since 2000, when he was drafted by the "Rangers". The highest paid NHL goalkeeper is Henrik Lundqvist. In 2013, he signed an agreement worth $ 50 million, which ends in 2020.

Carier start

"New York Rangers" had a peak in the seventh round of the NHL Draft Lottery in 2000. The club from the Big Apple chose Henrik under the peak of 205. His twin brother Yoel was chosen by the Texas "Dallas" much earlier - under the total peak of 68.

After the draft Henrik continued to perform in the Swedish hockey league, and in 2004, according to experts, he became the sixth most promising European hockey player. A year later, the goalkeeper was recognized as the MVP of the Swedish championship, setting five league records.

The debut in the National Hockey League took place in late autumn 2005. Injury received the main goalkeeper of the "Rangers" Kevin Weeks, and his place at the gate was taken by Henrik Lundqvist.

National Hockey League

Since the debut for the "New York Rangers" Lundqvist has not changed a single club. Moreover, Henrik immediately became the team's main goalkeeper, replacing the injured Wicks in the goal frame. In the first season in the NHL Hank spent 53 games in the frame of the goal, "Rangers". The team was able to win in 30 fights, which helped her get off to the Stanley Cup-offs. In the regular season, Henrik Lundqvist played two matches, not missing a single puck. In the playoffs, he missed every match.

In the next three seasons, the team's results improved. The percentage of Henkrik's pucks was kept at an average of 91.5%. But the team could not even reach the Eastern Conference final. Twice, "New York" was stopped at the quarterfinals and once in the ½ tournament.

Failures in the playoffs of the Stanley Cup

Only once Henrik Lundqvist team failed to qualify for the round of the playoffs at the end of the regular season. It happened in the 2009-2010 season. Even 35 victorious matches did not allow the club to get into the TOP-8 of the Eastern Conference.

Despite the fact that for the past 13 years, "New York Rangers" only once did not get into the playoffs, it's not good to call this period. Every time the team took part in the games, they did not manage to stay there.

In 2012 and 2013, Henrik Lundqvist with his magnificent game "on the ribbon" brought the team to the decisive matches in the conference, but the battle for the NHL final both times ended in failure. Only with the third time the "Rangers" could win the Eastern Conference, but in the final they did not manage to get the cup.

Reliable game of "King Henrik" in the frame of the gate allowed his club to win its division twice. Both times the team was able to win more than 50 wins in 82 games of the NHL regular season. For the first time this happened in the 2011-2012 season. Henrik Lundqvist played 62 games, and the percentage of punched beats was 93. This was the highest figure in his entire career in the NHL. The second time, "New York" won the division in 2015, winning 53 wins.

National team

During his career in the Swedish national team, Lundqvist was able to win two medals of the Olympic Games. The first became golden. In the finals of the Turin Olympics, the Swedes defeated the Finnish team with a score of 3-2. The second Olympic medal was earned in 2014 at the Olympic Games in Sochi. Then the team Lundquist lost in the final of the national team of Canada. Henrik got into the symbolic team of the 2014 Olympics, despite the devastating defeat in the final of the tournament.

In 2003 and 2004, the Swedish team stopped a step away from winning the gold medals of the World Championships. In 2004, Henrik entered the symbolic national team at the World Cup in the Czech Republic. He was able to win his first and only world gold at the 2017 World Cup. In the final match, Lundquist won a series of shootouts from his opponent with the Canadian team.