What made him a good player? I heard he was a fantastic defensive forward. Im too young to have seen him play.
Jan Erixon
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Staniowski
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Erixon was a pretty strong skater, forechecked and backchecked hard....pretty smart.
I never had the chance to watch the Rangers a whole lot, but people used to talk very highly of his defense, similar as they did about his fellow-Swede Anders Kallur a few years before that.
Erixon must've had a LOT of injuries. I don't really remember that.
I never had the chance to watch the Rangers a whole lot, but people used to talk very highly of his defense, similar as they did about his fellow-Swede Anders Kallur a few years before that.
Erixon must've had a LOT of injuries. I don't really remember that.
reckoning
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Aside from enforcers, I doubt there's many other 80s players who were top-9 forwards on their team consistently, but produced as little offense as Erixon. Which goes to show how reliable he was defensively, that it was enough to keep him on the Rangers.
Mike C
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Erixon was called "the shadow" for a reason
He had a chronic back issue and was severely limited because of it. Herniated disk surgery towards the end of his career.
Kallur was much more complete as a player. Scored 36 one year and would have had 3 straight 20 plus seasons but injuries kept him to 58 games where he scored 18 in his 3rd season
Jumptheshark
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Mike C
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Musings that need to be read!!
I thought you were incognito and I just wanted your supreme wisdom to get to the masses.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
I prefer clandestine. jan Erixon was a guy, who may not have been flashy but he was a guy that could cause the best player on the other team massive headaches
Mike C
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Indeed. Great defensive player. Was half crippled out there a lot because of the back. Lost the equivalent of 3 and a quarter seasons over 10 year career
tabness
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His good skating and hockey smarts made him a great defensive player, but they also got him into great positions to score... unfortunately Erixon simply wasn't a NHL level finisher and so he was like Beavis he never scored (despite getting to play with some good talent at times on the Rags), he would fit right in on the team Canada sent to the World Juniors this year lol
gary69
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Paul Ranheim maybe, at least in the 1990s, although he scored a bit more than Erixon in the late 1980's / early 1990's.
But in the 1990's I generally thought Ranheim as a 20 point guy with good skating & defence.
I feel like he was better offensively than his hockey card looks because he missed so much time due to injuries. He averaged 30 points/80 for his career but never scored more than 30 points in a season, which is an interesting anomaly.
But yeah, he was considered exceptional defensively and an elite penalty killer. The only season outside of his rookie year that he played 70 games he was a Selke finalist, and he had a bunch of other top-10 Selke finishes in years where he played 40-60 games.
Yozhik v tumane
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reckoning
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Some quotes from Erixon's entry in the 1987 Hockey Scouting Report book:
"He is always aware of his position on the ice, and that anticipation, combined with strong tireless skating, makes him an excellent defensive forward"
"His instincts and foot speed will get him in position for scoring opportunities. If he had any hands at all, he'd score 20-25 goals a year"
"He'll have to score from close in if he scores at all. He does not release his shot quickly or accurately."
"He plays an intelligent game and performs his checking without getting penalized. Many opponents become so frustrated by his shadowing that they may slash, spear, or throw him to the ice. Erixon takes it and gets back up."
"He has reached his potential as an excellent defensive player, but is unlikely to ever grow beyond that role."
"He is always aware of his position on the ice, and that anticipation, combined with strong tireless skating, makes him an excellent defensive forward"
"His instincts and foot speed will get him in position for scoring opportunities. If he had any hands at all, he'd score 20-25 goals a year"
"He'll have to score from close in if he scores at all. He does not release his shot quickly or accurately."
"He plays an intelligent game and performs his checking without getting penalized. Many opponents become so frustrated by his shadowing that they may slash, spear, or throw him to the ice. Erixon takes it and gets back up."
"He has reached his potential as an excellent defensive player, but is unlikely to ever grow beyond that role."
tabness
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Erixon certainly had no fin(n)ish in him lol
