Hockey Card of the Day: Kjell Dahlin

For some odd reason I searched Google Images for "Hockey, Groundhog's Day" and this is first actual hockey result I saw:

What the stylish Swede has to do with Groundhog's Day I do not know. 

But I do know that in 1985 Kjell Dahlin became just the second Swede to ever play for the great Montreal Canadiens. His predecessor was Mats Naslund in 1982. The two grew up on the same street back in Timra, Sweden, and would both be instrumental to the Habs Stanley Cup run in 1986.

Kjell Dahlin was a wiry forward blessed with a great set of hockey skills. Blessed with great quickness and agility, his skating style was very elegant, almost hinting of the great Jean Beliveau. He was capable of being a magician with the puck at any given time. He was a feathery passer and he had an absolute cannon of a wrist shot.

After serving his compulsory military duty in Sweden, he immediately stepped into the Habs lineup and was the perfect compliment for center Bobby Smith. Dahlin led all NHL rookies with 32 goals that season. The former anti-aircraft gunner became known as hockey star with a machine gun-like shot. His 32 goals and 71 points were both Montreal rookie records.

Here's the full Kjell Dahlin profile.