Kenny Jönsson
Kenny Jönsson ( born October 6, 1974 in Ängelholm ) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player and current coach, who played from 1994 to 2004 for the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders in the National Hockey League.
Career
Kenny Jönsson started his professional career in 1991 in the Swedish Elitserien for Rögle BK. In the NHL Entry Draft in 1993, he was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round at position 12. But he remained one year in Sweden and participated with the Swedish team at the 1994 Winter Olympics and won the gold medal there. In the fall of 1994, he should then give his debut in the National Hockey League, but there was a lockout and the start of the season was finally postponed to January 1995. Until then, he continued to play in his homeland.
Jönsson played almost all the games in the 1994/95 season for Toronto, and was elected to the NHL All- Rookie Team. In March 1996 he was transferred to the New York Islanders, where he was immediately an integral part of the team. However, the following years were rather unsuccessful. New York missed the playoffs year after year, yet remained Jönsson at the Islanders. Kenny Jönsson 1999 sparked the exchanged at the Vancouver Canucks Trevor Linden as captain of the Islanders from and contested the season with the letter " C" on the chest.
In the 2001 /02 season, the Islander reached for the first time after a long time the playoffs, but failed in the first round. After all, it always managed the Islanders in the next two years in the final round, but on the first round they did not come out.
The NHL season 2004/ 05 dropped out due to a lockout. The teams could not agree on new pay arrangements with the players and the league. Jönsson returned in the fall of 2004 returned to Sweden and played for his old team Rögle BK in the Swedish second league. He surprised the summer of 2005 so that he did not go back to the NHL, but at Rögle in the second division in Sweden. There he remained until the summer of 2009, before he ended his career at the age of 34 years. He then began to work as a coach and became the season 2010/11 hired by Rögle BK as assistant coach. He held until 2013, when the Rögle BK relegation back from the Elitserien in the Allsvenskan this position.
Nevertheless, he took part in the Winter Olympics in Turin. Sweden won the gold medal and Kenny Jönsson was voted best defender of the tournament. In May, he led the Swedish team as captain for winning the ice hockey world championship.
Kenny Jönsson was honored in 2006 as the best Swedish player with the Guldpucken.
Others
- Kenny Jönsson and his brother Jörgen Jönsson played Islanders 1999/ 00 together with the New York. Jörgen was transferred during the season to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and went after only a year back to Sweden. Together they won gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1994 and 2006.
Awards and achievements
- 2006 Guldpucken
- 2008 rise in the Elitserien with Rögle BK
- 2008 Best original donor among the defenders of HockeyAllsvenskan
- 2008 Point Best defender of HockeyAllsvenskan
- 2008 Rinkens Riddare
- 2009 Elitserien All-Star Team