Mattias Öhlund Mattias Öhlund ( born September 9 , 1976 ) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman and an alternate captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Prior to joining the Lightning , he played eleven seasons with the Vancouver Canucks . Öhlund played two seasons in the Swedish Allsvenskan , the second highest tier of hockey in Sweden , with Piteå HC before being selected by the Canucks thirteenth overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft ; he then joined Luleå HF of the Elitserien , the highest league in Sweden , winning the Le Mat Trophy as league champions in 1996 . He began his NHL career with Vancouver in 1997 – 98 , the start of an eleven - year tenure with the club . A serious eye injury before his third NHL season was the first of many injuries Öhlund has sustained over his career , and he has only played a full season twice in eleven years . A four - time winner of the Babe Pratt Trophy as the team ' s best defenceman , Öhlund is the Canucks ' all - time leading goal and point - scorer among defencemen . Internationally , Öhlund has represented Sweden in numerous tournaments , beginning with three World Junior Championships that included Best Defenceman honours as part of a silver medal effort in 1996 . He has since competed in three World Championships , earning gold in 1998 , and three Winter Olympics , earning gold in 2006 . Playing career . Sweden . Öhlund began his playing career with Piteå HC in his hometown , playing two seasons with the team . As a large , mobile defenceman , he was heavily scouted by scouts from several NHL teams during his final season with Piteå . He was the Vancouver Canucks ' first pick , thirteenth overall , in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft . Rather than join the Canucks , Öhlund stayed in Sweden as a result of a dispute over his contract with the team . He joined a new team , Luleå HF of the top Swedish league , the Elitserien . In his first season in the premier league in Sweden , Öhlund scored 16 points in 34 games . The following season Öhlund had 14 points in 38 games as Luleå won the Le Mat Trophy as champions of the Elitserien , their first league championship . Appearing in 47 games with Luleå during the 1996 – 97 season , Öhlund scored seven goals and had an additional nine assists . Vancouver Canucks . Four years after being drafted by the Canucks , Öhlund was set to be eligible to re - enter the NHL Entry Draft when he signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on August 1 , 1997 . Worth US $ 10 million over five years , including a signing bonus of $ 7 . 5 million , it was considerably more than the maximum rookie contract of $ 850 , 000 per year the Canucks , as the team that drafted Öhlund , were allowed to offer . Under league rules , the Canucks were given one week to either match the contract or trade Öhlund ' s NHL rights to the Maple Leafs . Rather than lose him , the Canucks agreed to the contract on August 7 . As part of a promotion for the 1998 Winter Olympics , the first to allow NHL participation in the ice hockey tournament , the Canucks opened the 1997 – 98 NHL season with a pair of games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Tokyo . Öhlund thus played his first NHL game in Japan on October 3 , 1997 . He scored his first goal against Felix Potvin of the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 9 , as well as earning his first assist in that game . Playing 77 games as a rookie , he tied Jyrki Lumme for the team lead in scoring among defencemen with seven goals and 30 points . In recognition of his play during the season , he was awarded the Babe Pratt Trophy , given to the Canucks ' best defenceman . In addition , Öhlund was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie in the league , finishing second in voting to Sergei Samsonov of the Boston Bruins with 11 first - place ballots to Samsonov ' s 43 . His 30 points , the fifth best total among first year players and highest by a rookie defenceman , helped him earn a position on the NHL All - Rookie Team . In his second season in the NHL , Öhlund was selected to the annual NHL All - Star Game as a replacement for an injured player . Playing for the World team , composed of NHLers from outside North America , Öhlund scored one goal and had an assist as the North American team won , 8 – 6 . With nine goals and 35 points in 74 games , Öhlund led the Canucks ' defencemen in scoring and placed fifth overall on the team . Prior to the start of the 1999 – 00 NHL season , in a pre - season game against the Ottawa Senators on September 21 , 1999 , a puck deflected off Öhlund ' s stick and struck him in the right eye . The injury forced Öhlund to miss the first 38 games of the season . He underwent surgery to correct his vision and returned to the Canucks the same season and scored 20 points in 42 games , again winning the Babe Pratt Trophy as the Canucks ' best defenceman . The following year , he missed an additional 17 games after undergoing surgery once more to relieve building internal pressure on his eye . Playing in his first game back in the lineup on November 28 , 2000 , Öhlund scored the game winning goal for the Canucks in a 4 – 1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim . Öhlund played the final 65 games of the season , scoring eight goals and 28 points . He also made his NHL playoff debut , recording four points in four games . The 2001 – 02 season saw Öhlund play 81 games and record a career - high 36 points , with an additional two points in six playoff games . A knee injury during the 2002 – 03 season led Öhlund to miss several games ; while he only scored 2 goals in the 59 games he played in , Öhlund set a career - high in assists with 27 . That was followed by appearing in a career - high 13 playoff games , where he had three goals and four assists for seven points . In 2003 – 04 , Öhlund tallied a career - high 14 goals and played in all 82 games with Vancouver for the first time in his career . For his efforts , Öhlund was named the winner of the Babe Pratt Trophy . The 2004 – 05 season was cancelled due to the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . Like many other NHL players , Öhlund played in Europe , joining his former team , Luleå HF , on December 21 . However eight days later , after playing two games with the team and scoring one goal , Öhlund left the team . As well as briefly playing in Sweden , Öhlund took part in a charity hockey match set up by Canucks teammate Brad May and held in Vancouver on December 12 , 2004 . Including several NHL players , the game raised nearly $ 1 million for charity . The NHL resumed play for the 2005 – 06 season ; Öhlund recorded 33 points in 78 games , including leading Canucks defencemen with 13 goals , winning the Babe Pratt Trophy for the fourth time in his career . Early in the 2007 – 08 season , Öhlund received a four - game suspension , the first of his career , for an incident near the end of a November 16 , 2007 , game against the Minnesota Wild . In the third period , Wild forward Mikko Koivu hit Öhlund in the head with his elbow , and Öhlund retaliated by slashing Koivu in the leg with his stick , breaking Koivu ' s fibula . After returning from the suspension , Öhlund became the Canucks ' all - time leader in goals among defencemen , scoring the game - tying goal against the Edmonton Oilers on December 15 , 2007 , to pass former teammate Jyrki Lumme with 84 goals . After bone chips were detected in his knee in early March 2008 , Öhlund underwent knee surgery on March 13 and missed the remainder of the season . The leading scorer amongst Canuck defenceman at the time of the surgery , Öhlund finished second amongst defenceman with 24 points in 53 games . With the departure of Markus Näslund in the 2008 off - season , Öhlund became the longest serving player on the Canucks ' roster . Before the beginning of the 2008 – 09 season , Öhlund was named , along with Ryan Kesler and Willie Mitchell as alternate captains to goaltender Roberto Luongo , who replaced Näslund as captain . Due to the limitations of having a goalie as captain , Öhlund was designated the captain ' s traditional duty of taking ceremonial faceoffs . Beginning the season 22 points behind Jyrki Lumme and Dennis Kearns for the franchise ' s all - time point - scoring record for a defenceman , Öhlund surpassed the mark on March 15 , 2009 , with an assist in a 4 – 2 win against the Colorado Avalanche for his 322nd point as a Canuck . He played all 82 games for the second time in his career , and finished tied for third on the team for points by a defenceman with 25 . Tampa Bay Lightning . Becoming an unrestricted free agent in the off - season , Öhlund signed a seven - year , $ 26 . 25 - million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1 , 2009 . Brought in as a mentor to fellow Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman , whom the Lightning drafted second overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft , Öhlund was named an alternate captain of the Lightning . His first game with the Lightning was on October 3 , 2009 , against the Atlanta Thrashers ; Öhlund had one assist in the game . Ohlund finished his first season with the Lightning with no goals and 13 assists in 67 games . It was the first time in his 12 - year NHL career that he did not score a goal during the regular season . International play . Early in his career , Öhlund was selected to play in three World Junior Championships for Sweden . Beginning in 1994 , he contributed two assists in seven games as part of a silver medal effort . As the medals were determined by a round - robin format , Sweden fell one point short of Canada , losing 6 – 4 to them in their final and deciding game . After a bronze medal in 1995 , Öhlund returned for a third straight World Junior tournament in 1996 to record five assists and was named the tournament ' s Best Defenceman . He was additionally named to the Tournament All - Star Team as he captured his second World Junior silver medal . He made his debut for the Swedish senior national team in 1997 at the World Championships , his first of three appearances in the tournament . Öhlund scored two goals and added an assist in 11 games as Sweden captured a silver medal . He returned the following year in 1998 to match his previous statistical output while earning his first gold medal with Sweden . In his third World Championship appearance , the 2001 World Championships , Öhlund tallied five points to help Sweden to a bronze medal . The 1998 Winter Olympics was the first of three consecutive Olympic games Öhlund appeared in . He played in all four games for Sweden and registered one assist as Sweden finished in a tie for fifth place , out of medal contention . Four years later , Öhlund was selected for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City . However , in pre - Olympic drug testing by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) , Öhlund tested positive for the banned substance acetazolamide . The substance was inadvertently ingested after Öhlund took Diamox , a drug he had used previously while undergoing eye surgery . As the ingestion was unintentional , he was cleared to play . After a dominant round - robin , Sweden was eliminated by Belarus in the quarter - final game — considered one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history and the darkest moment in Swedish hockey history . Öhlund finished the tournament with two points in four games . In the following Olympics , Öhlund helped Sweden to the 2006 gold medal in Turin . After earning two assists in six games , Öhlund was forced out of the tournament after getting hit into the boards and fracturing his ribs during a game against Switzerland . Unable to play in the final against Finland , he nevertheless received a gold medal from the IOC . Canucks teammates , Daniel and Henrik Sedin , who also played on the championship team , offered to give Öhlund one of their gold medals if the IOC would not give him one , while his replacement on the team , Niklas Kronwall , made the same offer . Additionally , Öhlund competed in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey , which preceded the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . In four games , he recorded one goal and one assist . Personal life . Growing up in Piteå , Öhlund idolized fellow Swedish defenceman Börje Salming , who played 17 seasons in the NHL . He is married to wife Linda and has a daughter , Hannah , and a son , Viktor . They resided in Tampa during the hockey season , but will be living in the Tampa Bay region , and return to Öhlund ' s hometown of Piteå , Sweden , in the summer .