Pentti Lund
Lund with the New York Rangers during the 1949–1950 season
Born (1925-12-06)December 6, 1925
Karijoki, Finland
Died April 16, 2013(2013-04-16) (aged 87)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
Playing career 1943–1953

Pentti Alexander Lund (December 6, 1925 – April 16, 2013) was a Finnish Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. Lund was often credited as being the first Finnish player in the National Hockey League.[1] (Albert Pudas, however, played 4 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1926-1927. Pudas though had the Canadian citizenship from the beginning in Maple Leafs even he was born in Finland.[2]

Junior career

Lund moved to Canada from Finland at the age of six. He began his junior career with the local Port Arthur teams in the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League from 1942 to 1945. Lund lead the league in scoring during his two seasons with the Navy team, where, in 19 regular season games, he scored an impressive 47 goals.

Professional career

Lund turned pro in 1945–46 with the Boston Olympics of the Eastern Hockey League, a minor affiliate team of the Boston Bruins. He scored 33 points during the regular season and scored 15 points in 9 playoff games with the Olympics helping the team win a championship. Next season, Lund led the league in scoring with 92 points in 56 games. This helped him garner some fame as he was called up by the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League to play in one playoff game. In 1947-48, Lund joined the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League where his excellent play was rewarded with two playoff game appearances with the Boston Bruins.

During the off-season, Lund was traded to the New York Rangers, where he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year by scoring 14 goals and adding 16 assists in 59 games. He also became the first Finnish-born player to score a goal in the NHL. In his second year with the Rangers, he scored a career high 18 goals. Lund and the Rangers made a great run to the Stanley Cup Finals as the fourth seeded team. Lund had a great postseason as he recorded 11 points in 12 games. The Rangers would lose the Stanley Cup to the first-place Detroit Red Wings in seven games.

Lund was traded back to the Boston Bruins early in the 1951-52 season. During the season, Lund suffered an eye-injury from a high-stick on November 13, during the 13th game of the season, with Lund skating with number 13 on his jersey, suggesting to many that unlucky number 13 played a role in the injury. The injury was so severe, that he almost lost all sight in his right eye. Lund attempted a comeback after being sidelined for three-months, contributing 17 points with only one eye in 1952-53. Lund would skate for two seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds before retiring from ice hockey in 1955.

On September 29, 1984, Lund was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1992 he was inducted into the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.[3]

He died April 16, 2013, at the age of 87.[3]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1942–43 Port Arthur Bruins TBJHL 9 5 11 16 4 3 3 3 6 5
1942–43 Port Arthur Forts M-Cup — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0
1943–44 Port Arthur Navy TBJHL 10 21 24 45 10 2 3 2 5 0
1943–44 Port Arthur Flyers M-Cup — — — — — 7 1 3 4 0
1944–45 Port Arthur Navy TBJHL 9 26 9 35 9 — — — — —
1944–45 Port Arthur Bruins M-Cup — — — — — 5 5 2 7 0
1945–46 Boston Olympics EAHL 34 14 19 33 10 12 13 6 19 7
1946–47 Boston Olympics EAHL 56 49 43 92 21 9 7 8 15 4
1946–47 Boston Bruins NHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0
1947–48 Hershey Bears AHL 68 26 36 62 21 2 0 0 0 0
1947–48 Boston Bruins NHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0
1948–49 New York Rangers NHL 59 14 16 30 16 — — — — —
1949–50 New York Rangers NHL 64 18 9 27 16 12 6 5 11 0
1950–51 New York Rangers NHL 59 4 16 20 6 — — — — —
1951–52 Boston Bruins NHL 23 0 5 5 0 2 1 0 1 0
1951–52 Hershey Bears AHL 7 1 1 2 5 — — — — —
1952–53 Boston Bruins NHL 54 8 9 17 2 2 0 0 0 0
1953–54 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds NOHA 6 1 2 3 0 9 1 1 2 0
1954–55 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds NOHA 48 13 18 31 9 14 2 5 7 4
NHL totals 259 44 55 99 40 19 7 5 12 0

References

  1. ↑ Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.34, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
  2. ↑ X-lehti https://www.veikkaus.fi/fi/x/nhl-legendat-born-in-the-usa
  3. 1 2 The Chronicle-Journal. "Sports legend Lund dies at 87". The Chronicle-Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
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