Nils Ekman Nils " Nisse " Ekman ( born 11 March 1976 ) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey right winger . During his 15 - year career as a player at the professional level he played in the National Hockey League , Swedish Elite League ( SEL ) , Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) , and SM - liiga . He played for the SEL team Djurgårdens IF when he suffered a stroke in December 2010 , forcing him to retire from hockey on 10 August 2011 . Playing career . Junior career . Ekman spent his formative years playing in his native Sweden . In season 1993 – 94 , after scoring four goals and five assists in eleven games for Hammarby IF in the Swedish Junior League , Ekman was called up to the parent team in the Swedish tier 2 - league HockeyAllsvenskan , where he scored nine points in 18 games . Catching the eye of the Calgary Flames , he was drafted by the team in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in the 5th round as the 107th pick overall . In the 1994 – 95 season , after a short two - game stint in the Swedish junior league , he totalled 10 goals and 7 assists in 29 games for the parent club . After another year in Hammarby , where he scored 9 goals and totalled 7 assists in 26 games , he went to play in Finland . Finnish career . Ekman played a large part of his early years in Finland . In season 1996 – 97 , he played with Kiekko - Espoo of the SM - liiga , scoring 24 goals and adding 19 assists in 50 games . He also added two goals in four playoff games . The next year , his totals declined , as he notched 14 goals with 14 assists in 42 games , causing many to believe he was another Europe an - drafted bust . However , Ekman had a strong playoffs with two goals and two assists in seven games . Following his team ' s elimination from the playoffs , Ekman signed a contract with Calgary , who were impressed at his development , and Ekman joined the Saint John Flames in the American Hockey League ( AHL ) . However , he did not play in any games and returned to Kiekko - Espoo for the 1998 – 99 season , notching 34 points in 52 games . He would not return to play in Europe for three years as he left for North America . NHL career . Having no room for him , on November 20 , 1999 , Calgary traded Ekman to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with a 4th round selection ( Vladimir Gorbunov ) in the 2000 Entry Draft for Andreas Johansson . He made his debut with the Lightning that season , but scored only 4 points in 28 games . To gain more experience , he joined the IHL and split the 1999 – 2000 season with the Detroit Vipers and the Long Beach Ice Dogs , notching 32 points in 37 games and earning rookie of the year honors . He also had 6 points in 5 playoff games for Long Beach . During the 2000 – 01 season , after 36 points in 33 games for Detroit , he was recalled to the NHL , where he improved on his earlier showing and scored 20 points in 43 games . However , he had a very low plus / minus rating of - 15 . In the summer of 2001 he was traded to the New York Rangers , but after failing to get a place on the squad he moved back to Sweden and played with Djurgårdens IF in Swedish elite league Elitserien for a season and scored 31 points in 38 games while playing a strong two - way game . Determined to make the NHL , in the 2002 – 03 NHL season he came back to North America and played with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL . Showing how far he had developed , Ekman put up 30 goals and 36 assists in 57 games . However , he was unable to crack the New York lineup because the team preferred to give veterans playing time over youngsters . On August 12 , 2003 , Ekman was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Chad Wiseman . A team that had completely flopped the previous season , the Sharks were willing to give the untested Ekman a chance . For the 2003 – 04 NHL season he posted a career high in goals ( 22 ) and had 33 assists , as well as a franchise - record plus 35 rating , negating all doubts about defensive struggles . Still , he had only 3 assists in 16 games for San Jose in the playoffs . NHL lockout . During the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , Ekman proved that 2004 was no fluke with 18 goals and 27 assists in 44 games for Djurgården . This was the highest total on the team , and fifth - highest in the league ( eighth - highest in goals ) that had players like Peter Forsberg and Henrik Zetterberg . Post - lockout . Ekman started the 2005 – 06 NHL season rather slowly coming back from the lockout . In fact in his first 29 games he only scored seven points . However , he started to click on a line with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo , and he responded by scoring 29 points in his next 23 games , including a four - game span when he had three four - point games . During this season , he set a new career high for assists and points with 36 and 57 respectively , along with 21 goals in 76 games . On July 20 , 2006 , Ekman was traded along with goaltending prospect Patrick Ehelechner to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2007 second - round draft - pick . Later in the same year , November 8 , he scored a natural hat trick in four minutes and ten seconds in the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning , setting a Penguins franchise record . Ekman dislocated his left elbow in a home game win ( 4 - 1 ) against Toronto Maple Leafs on December 29 , 2006 . He was forced to sit out for three months before he could return to the ice and made his comeback against the Ottawa Senators on March 6 and had four penalty minutes and - 1 , logging nearly 8 minutes of ice time . For season 2007 – 08 , Ekman moved to Russia for play with Khimik Moscow Oblast in the Russian Super League . Next season , he signed with SKA Saint Petersburg in the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League . After two seasons with the St . Petersburg - based club , scoring 21 goals and 62 points in 83 games , Ekman signed a three - year deal with his former club Djurgården in May 2010 . Retirement . In what would be his final season , Ekman played 20 games , scoring 4 goals and 9 points before suffering a stroke in late December 2010 . Ekman was hospitalized until March 14 , 2011 , when he was discharged and missed the remaining games of the 2010 – 11 Elitserien season . Subsequently , Ekman announced his retirement on August 10 , 2011 , at the age of 35 when neurologists of Karolinska University Hospital said it would not be safe to resume playing hockey .