1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 197 Kent Nilsson Hockey Card (Front)
1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 197 Kent Nilsson Hockey Card (Back)
1980-81 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Was winner of WHA’s Rookie of the Year Trophy at Winnipeg during the 1977-78 campaign. He’s extremely talented player with tremendous skating speed.
En Français
Recrue de l’Année de l’AMH pour 1977-78 alors qu’il jouait pour Winnipeg. C’est un joueur doué de nombreux talents qui est extrêmement rapide sur ses patins.
Details
Kent Nilsson was the recipient of the Lou Kaplan Trophy as WHA rookie of the year in 1977-78. His 107 points was good for just fourth on the high-powered Winnipeg Jets, behind Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg and Bobby Hull. He was eighth overall in the WHA, a distant 47 points behind leader Marc Tardif of the Quebec Nordiques.
Nilsson repeated with 107 points in 1978-79, the final year of the WHA’s existence. With Bobby Hull playing just four games while Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg were off to the NHL to play for the New York Rangers, Kent led the Jets. This time, his point total was good for fourth in the league behind Real Cloutier, Robbie Ftorek and Wayne Gretzky.
The fourth round pick by the Atlanta Flames back in 1976 burst onto the NHL scene in 1979-80 for the last season in Atlanta for the Flames. He led the team with 40 goals, 53 assists and 93 points. He was just outside the NHL’s top ten, a single point behind a tenth place tie between Blair MacDonald and Bernie Federko.
1980-81 would be the pinnacle of Nilsson’s NHL career. He had career highs of 49 goals, 82 assists and 131 points. The assist and point totals remain Calgary Flames single season records. Of course, Lanny MacDonald owns the team goal scoring record with 66 in 1982-83. His 131 points placed him third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne.
Between 1979-80 and 1994-95, Kent Nilsson played 553 regular season and 59 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers. The bulk of those games were played between 79-80 and 86-87. After a return to Sweden, he came back to the NHL for a six game stint with the Oilers in 1994-95. Nilsson was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2006.