About Kent Nilsson
Kent Åke Nilsson (born 31 August 1956) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta and Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers, as well as teams across various European leagues. A prolific scorer during his era, Nillson was called "Mr. Magic" and "The Magic Man" during his NHL career, referring to his exceptional puck skills. Wayne Gretzky commented on Nilsson's skills saying "Skills-wise he might have been the most skilled hockey player I ever saw in my entire career". Nilsson has the 10th highest career NHL points-per-game average of any player who scored at least 500 points, the most among any player not inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Nilsson was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2006, the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012. Nilsson began his career during the season of 1973–74, playing for Djurgårdens IF during his first of four seasons in Sweden. Nilsson won his first and only Stanley Cup while playing with the Edmonton Oilers in 1987. Nilsson holds the NHL record for the quickest goal scored during a season-opening game, at ten seconds in, while playing for the North Stars versus the Quebec Nordiques on 11 October 1986.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.