Niklas Sundblad

Niklas Sundblad (born January 3, 1973 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish professional ice hockey coach and a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player.

Playing career

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

Sundblad has represented his native Sweden several times in international competition. 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

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]

Personal

Sundblad is now living in Germany with his wife. He is the father of two beautiful girls, Jessica and Madeleine.

References

  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. 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. "Ingolstadt feiert seine Meister – Sport – Spox.com". Spox.com. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  6. ↑ "Eishockey: Meister-Trainer Sundblad verlässt Ingolstadt". SPIEGEL ONLINE. 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. ↑ ONLINE, RP. "DEL: Kölner Haie werfen Sundblad raus". RP ONLINE. Retrieved 2016-03-19.

External links

Preceded by
Trevor Kidd		 Calgary Flames' first round draft pick
1991 		Succeeded by
Cory Stillman
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