Johan Halvardsson

2006-07 Update: April 1, 2007: Johan Halvardsson has reportedly extended his contract with HV-71 for the next 4 years. HV71 ended the regular season as the second placed team after Färjestads BK. HV choose to meet Brynäs IF in the quarterfinals and won the series 4 games to 3 to continue to the semifinals. The team faced MODO Hockey and even with home ice advantage HV lost four out of seven games. Halvardsson missed the playoffs and only played in 8 regular season games with HV due to a knee injury.

February 1, 2007: Johan Halvardsson did not play for HV-71 during the month of January as he missed action due to a knee injury. The extent of the injury is not yet known and according to an article in the Aftonbladet (roughly translated below) Halvardsson could be done for the season.

January 1, 2007: Johan Halvardsson returned to the Swedish Elite League in early December and rejoined his old club HV-71 Jonkoping. In his first game back on December 7, 2006, Halvardsson recorded an assist in a 5-1 win at Djurgardens IF. He played in HV-71's next 4 games before sitting out games on 12/27 at Linkopings HC and 12/29 vs. Lulea HF. HV-71 went 2-1-1 during the month of December with Halvardsson in their lineup. He is a teammate of former New York Islander Johan Davidsson. Halvardsson wears #18 for HV-71 Jonkoping.

December 1, 2006: Johan Halvardsson saw action in 4 of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 13 games going 1-1-2 during the month of November. He scored his first career AHL goal in his seventh game on November 15, 2006 in a 3-2 shootout loss vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Two games earlier, Halvardsson recorded his first career AHL piont when he tallied an assist in a 6-4 loss at Philadelphia on November 10, 2006. He did not appear in the Sound Tigers first four games of the month of November, missing contests on: 11/1 at Norfolk, 11/3 at Binghamton, 11/4 at Portland, and 11/5 vs. Hartford. Halvardsson returned to action for the next four games. He then missed the next 5 games with a hip flexor injury, missing tilts on: 11/18 at Hershey, 11/24 vs. Binghamton, 11/25 at Hartford, 11/26 vs. Albany, and 11/29 vs. Norfolk.
Update: It was announced on December 2nd that Johan Halvardsson has returned to Sweden to play for HV-71. Halvardsson struggled to get into the Sound Tiger lineup because of injuries and coaching decisions. He played in 8 games for the Sound Tigers, recording a goal and 2 points with 8 PIM's.

November 1, 2006: Defenseman Johan Halvardsson made his AHL debut with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their season opener, a 5-3 win at the Binghamton Senators on October 8, 2006. He played in the Sound Tigers first 2 games of the season before being a healthy scratch for the next 2 games on October 14th and 20th. He returned to the lineup on October 21st. Halvardsson was scratched again on October 27th. He played in 4 of the Sound Tigers 7 games during the month of October.

Johan Halvardsson is forced to operation
Still unclear how long HV-71 D-man will remain out
Aftonbladet.se, Jan. 26, 2007 (roughly translated by islesinfo.com)

Johan Halvardsson has only played seven games in the top division this season.
The question is how much more will he miss.
The extent of the damage in Halvardsson's knee will be determined in an operation this week.
  - "The aspiration is that he will play this season but one never knows," says HV71's doctor Lars Göran Hassel. Johan Halvardsson, 27, who broke his contract with the New York Islanders and returned home to HV71 in December, had only played seven games before he damaged his knee in the away game against Skellefteå, which has caused him to miss the last three weeks.
Since then the rehabilitation has gone sluggishly and now Dr. Lars Göran Hassel plans to do a peep-hole operation to see how bad the damage is.
It is possible Halvardsson could miss the rest of the season.
  - "The knee is damaged but it is uncertain how extensive. We do a peep-hole operation next week in order to see what the damage is," says Hassel.
At present, he wants not to speculate on how long Halvardsson will be lost.
  - "That depends on how bad the damage is and what we will have to do. If it is not that bad he could be back in a few weeks. If it's the worst case scenario he could miss a lot longer."
Could Johan return to play more this season?
  - "The aspiration is that he will play but one never knows."

BRIDGEPORT — Even when the back was spasming, even when there was no room in the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' lineup for a big defenseman, Johan Halvardsson kept smiling. "He's a positive kid," associate coach and former pro defenseman Jack Capuano said. "He didn't play early on, but his attitude is terrific. He wants to learn. He always wants to watch video."

Halvardsson got his chance last weekend, playing both weekend games in Philadelphia and at home against Worcester. In the first game, he picked up his first North American assist. "It's fun to play again," said Halvardsson, who turns 27 the day after Christmas. Halvardsson, a 1999 New York Islanders draft pick, is in his first North American season. He has played all or part of the past eight years in the top league in his native Sweden. He's adapting to both the North American style, where he said plays seem to happen quicker, and to the lifestyle, rooming with countryman Robert Nilsson near the beach in Milford. He sat out five games in a row before this weekend, with Chris Campoli down from the Islanders and with back spasms and a hip bothering him. The aches are fine now, he said, as long as he warms up properly. "I feel pretty good," he said. Mobility was the biggest question mark on Halvardsson's scouting report. Fast Halvardsson isn't, but he moves well enough for a 6-foot-4, 203-pound, stay-at-home defenseman. "No doubt, from Day 1 in Nova Scotia to now, he's improved," Capuano said. "He's worked extremely hard."

Even though Campoli went back up to the Islanders for their road trip, Halvardsson may still have some competition for playing time.

Connpost.com 2006-07 Sound Tigers Player Capsule

NAME — Johan Halvardsson
NUMBER — 37
POSITION — Defense
SHOOTS — Left
VITALS — 6-4, 203
BORN — Dec. 26, 1979, Jonkoping, Sweden
LAST SEASON — HV-71-Sweden (37: 1-1-2)
RESUME — Steady stay-at-home defenseman comes to North America for the first time after eight seasons with HV-71, in his hometown, in Sweden's top league. ... Member of 2004 championship team. ... Drafted 102nd overall by the Islanders in 1999, when he was 19.

- A native of Jonkoping, Sweden Halvardsson played his most physical hockey last season. He's considered a defensive defenseman and went 1-1-2 in 37 games played, +7 in 2005-06. According to the new CBA, the Islanders had to make a decision on signing Halvardsson since he was drafted prior to 2002. If they didn't sign him they would have lost his rights.

If Halvardsson were to play for the Islanders he would become the eight player drafted in the 1999 draft to make it to the team.

In the Aftonbladet article, Halvardsson stated that his agent Johan Stromberg presented an offer to the Islanders sometime last week. An official deal was worked up Tuesday and by Midnight Wednesday morning Halvardsson was signed.

The Islanders avoided losing Halvardsson's rights by signing him before June 1. According to the new CBA NHL team's not signing a European born player drafted prior to 2002 would lose the right's to that player. The Islanders acquired the fourth round pick used to draft Halvardsson in 1999 when they dealt D Bubba Berenzweig to the Nashville Predators.

islesinfo.com comment: Not sure what Halvardsson will bring to the organization. He's 26 and has 8 years experience in the SEL so he could surprise a few people. At the worst he's a good replacement for the loss of Tomi Pettinen.

From Eliteprospects.com

Halvardsson is big stay-at-home defenseman that plays quite physical. He relies much on his size that assists him in various situations. He is also the type of defenseman that goalies love to have in front of them. He blocks shots, he hits and he is good at clearing the crease. Halvardsson's mobility could use improvement and he is an average skater at best. Very limited offensive skills. Purely defensive, he was among the top defensemen in the SEL.

Facts: Halvardsson was a member of the 2003-04 HV-71 team that won the SEL Championship.