Height: 5-8
Weight: 180
Shoot: L
Born: 5 Apr 1944, Falun Sweden (d. 1987)
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1978-79 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
• Member, Sweden Olympic Team, 1968 & 1972.
• Winner, Dennis Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman), 1977-78.
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1975-76 (by Dan Proudfoot)
In the summertime Lars-Erik Sjoberg works on his doctorate in educational psychology, so it's quite conceivable that he could win over a city such as Winnipeg with a personal publicity campaign. Instead, he captured a huge following purely on the basis of his talents as a hockey player. Sjoberg dominated games from his defence position, performing with a controlled kind of artistry that ignited scoring plays and excited fans. His passes resulted in goals 53 times and he scored seven times himself, so he was among the leading WHA defencemen in points with his total of 60 tying him with Barry Long of Edmonton for fourth place. "We all like Canada," says Sjoberg, "so we may end up staying here, if we find other jobs after we're through playing hockey." That's a decision Jets hope to postpone indefinitely. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander Complete Hockey Handbook, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis) Called the "Little General" by his boss, Rudy Pilous... Has take-charge qualities... After winters of service to the Swedish National Team, he came to the Jets and earned a berth on the third All Star team... Stocky, extremely mobile, superb playmaker and a highly effective hitter... On the verge of a gaining his Ph.D. in physical education... A strategist and a confidant of Bobby Hull's... What "Shoe" is thinking today usually becomes Jet policy in about two weeks... Hates to give up goals, even in practice... Not a great shooter. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Lars-Erik Sjoberg is the type of defenseman who's noticed more often by opposing coaches than by fans. That's because he's seldom spectacular making rushes, but always solid in his defensive role. Sjoberg had the best defensive rating of any Winnipeg blueliners, plus 46, in 1975-76 regular season play. ... Only the Everything Line of Hull, Hedberg and Nilsson had a better record of creating goals for, preventing goals-against. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1978-79 (by Reyn Davis)
Perennial captain of the Jets and undisputed leader of the defense ... Extremely mobile with quick, tight moves that confound forecheckers ... A hockey scientist ... Chosen by WHA players as the league's top defenseman ... An exporter-importer who sells Canadian goods in Sweden and Swedish goods in Canada ... Very well educated ... Nickname is "Shoe" or "The Little General" while in Sweden it's "Taxana" which means a dachshund dog because of his short legs ... Shared the league lead with teammate Anders Hedberg for the highest plus-minus rating (+60) last season |
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Shoe's Heart Is Here • by Reyn Davis • The Winnipeg Free Press • October 11, 1979
A man who should know says Canadians are a cool race of people, not at all spoiled by their bountiful supply of energy. Lars-Erik Sjoberg has made Canada his home since 1974 and he has no plans to leave. He has all sorts of challenges facing him, not the least of which is seeing Winnipeg become established in the National Hockey League. But he's nagged by an injury that almost ended his career. A year ago, Sjoberg was recovering from an operation to repair a detached achilles tendon. He missed six months of action. Three operations have been performed on his right heel and quite frankly, the heel is as much a victim of surgery as injury. He can't wear shoes and skates bother him. But he'll find a way to play if it kills him. "I live to play again," he said last winter when the wait had become agonizingly long. He came back to star in the playoffs. The 36-year-old defenseman has become the Jets longest active member, succeeding Joe Daley and Bobby Hull, the last of the originals. He has been the team captain for the past four seasons. Born the son of a Swedish farmer, Sjoberg spends 10 months a year in Canada and two in his native country. A growing interest in business has caused him to become an importer-exporter who sells Canadian goods in Sweden and Swedish goods here. Among the Canadian commodities he sells in Sweden are paddles and folding metal baskets. He also dabbles in rye whiskey, though rigid controls of the liquor market in Sweden have made it all but impossible to introduce the joys of a Canadian drink in that country. Sjoberg has found Canada more relaxed and much less difficult than Sweden. Life is expensive there. Inflation is rampant. In a Swedish bar, a screwdriver costs $8. At a filling station a gallon of gas sells for $3.30. "You do a lot of calculating before you drive anywhere," he said. Sjoberg says the average Canadian uses three times as much energy as the average Swede. And he noted that 230 million Americans consume as much electricity to operate their air conditioners as 700 million Chinese consume for all their needs. Sjoberg was an international hockey star before he ever came to Winnipeg. All told, Sjoberg attended seven World Championships in two Olympics wearing the colors of the Swedish National Team. "As far as I'm concerned, Sjoberg could play on any team in the NHL," said general manager John Ferguson. "He was definitely the best in the WHA and he'll prove he's one of the best in the NHL." |
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