Last night, the Colorado Avalanche had a night in honor of Peter Forsberg that, unfortunately for Avs fans, was ruined by the Red Wings of Detroit. Although Colorado could not pull off the victory, it still was a great night for a player who, along with Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, led the Avalanche to prominence and established them as one of the most formidable teams in the NHL from the mid-90's until the lockout of 2005. Peter Forsberg leaves the game of hockey arguably the greatest Swedish hockey player of all time; I believe that an argument could also be made for Nicklas Lidstrom. Forsberg's unparallelled stickhandling and tireless work ethic along with incredible strength made him one of the toughest players to scout in the NHL. There was a period of 7 or 8 years or so where no matter what you couldn't keep him off the scoreboard. He was a perennial all star and was always in the conversation of the top 10 forwards in the NHL. His 885 career NHL points will always remind us of what could have been. Although Forsberg had all the talent in the world, his unfortunate career-long battle with a chronic, nagging foot injury is what some people will remember about him. For all the skills he possessed, the biggest challenge for him was staying out of the trainer's room. But for when he was on the ice, he was always the go-to guy for the Avs. There never was and will never ever be another Peter Forsberg. We here at Toe Drag wish him well in his life after hockey and maybe hope to see him in an analyst's role sometime in the future.
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