Joel Per Lundqvist (born 2 March 1982) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. He played as a centre, spending the majority of his career with Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and also played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Dallas Stars from 2006 to 2009. He holds the record for most appearances in the SHL. His identical twin brother is former NHL goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Early life Joel and identical twin brother Henrik, a retired 15-year goaltender with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), were born to Eva Johansson and Peter Lundqvist. They grew up in Åre, Jämtland, an area where alpine skiing is the most popular winter activity, but Henrik and Joel chose to play ice hockey over the more popular winter sports. During the winters their kindergarten teachers used the kindergarten's sandpit to freeze an outdoor ice rink where the twins would frequently skate. Their interest in hockey grew even larger when their father Peter took the twins to see Frölunda HC play in Scandinavium, Gothenburg. Peter worked for a company who sponsored Frölunda, and Henrik and Joel saw many games in Scandinavium and Frölunda became their favourite team. In 1990 Henrik and Joel joined Järpens IF and started playing organized hockey for the first time. During one practice when the coach asked if anyone wanted to be a goaltender Joel grabbed and raised Henrik's arm and said that his brother would like to.

In 1993 the family moved to Båstad, Skåne, in southern Sweden to support their older sister Gabriella's tennis career. Henrik and Joel joined local team Rögle BK, and were both selected for Scania's regional team in Sverigepucken in 1995. Henrik was selected to play for Scania in TV-pucken in 1996, and in 1997 when Joel was also selected. During the 1997–98 season Henrik and Joel were extensively scouted by Frölunda, and while playing for Rögle in the 1998 Scandinavium Cup in Gothenburg, Frölunda's junior team manager and U16 coach Janne Karlsson contacted their father, who told Henrik and Joel about Frölunda's interest in them while driving home to Båstad.

Playing career He was selected by the Dallas Stars in the 2000 NHL entry draft (third round, 68th overall) and signed a one-year, entry-level, two-way contract with them in May 2006. He started his 2006 season in Iowa Stars scoring 38 points in 40 games but was called up and played his first game in Dallas on 3 December 2006. Lundqvist played 7 games in his first NHL playoff series, scoring two goals, and was assigned back to Iowa when Dallas was eliminated.

Lundqvist scored his first career NHL goal against Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff on 17 January 2007.

His identical twin brother Henrik had a successful rookie season as goaltender for the New York Rangers in the 2005–06 season. He was afforded the opportunity to play his twin brother on 14 December 2006, in Dallas. It was the first time that a goaltender faced his twin. He and his brother are only the third set of twins to play each other in an NHL game in the history of the league.

In 2009, he returned to his native Sweden, signing with Frölunda HC. In 2011, Lundqvist became the October nominee for Guldpucken. Serving as team captain, he led Frölunda to win the 2016 Swedish national championship as well as the Champions Hockey League (CHL). In 2017, Frölunda repeated as CHL champions with Lundqvist earning Most Valuable Player honors.

Lundqvist retired at the end of the 2022–23 SHL season when Frölunda HC was eliminated in the semi-finals of the SHL playoffs.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998–99 Västra Frölunda HC J18 Allsv 3226386437 43142 1999–2000 Västra Frölunda HC J18 Allsv 42464 ————— 1999–2000 Västra Frölunda HC J20 25712192 62352 2000–01 Västra Frölunda HC J20 94101412 ————— 2000–01 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 90000 ————— 2000–01 Mölndal HC Allsv 171051510 988160 2001–02 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 4612142628 101348 2001–02 Västra Frölunda HC J20 ————— 10000 2002–03 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 50172037113 1663912 2003–04 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 499142348 102248 2004–05 Frölunda HC SEL 507121938 1325757 2005–06 Frölunda HC SEL 4910223287 1734734 2006–07 Iowa Stars AHL 4016223830 9641010 2006–07 Dallas Stars NHL 3633614 72026 2007–08 Iowa Stars AHL 82462 ————— 2007–08 Dallas Stars NHL 553111422 182578 2008–09 Dallas Stars NHL 4315620 ————— 2009–10 Frölunda HC SEL 4911203134 10000 2010–11 Frölunda HC SEL 31981716 ————— 2011–12 Frölunda HC SEL 4811193063 60224 2012–13 Frölunda HC SEL 5512223457 63256 2013–14 Frölunda HC SHL 463141759 71234 2014–15 Frölunda HC SHL 555172218 133254 2015–16 Frölunda HC SHL 4519193822 31230 2016–17 Frölunda HC SHL 519172624 14210126 2017–18 Frölunda HC SHL 434162049 61012 2018–19 Frölunda HC SHL 5113183126 16671335 2019–20 Frölunda HC SHL 4617143139 ————— 2020–21 Frölunda HC SHL 3910132345 40004 2021–22 Frölunda HC SHL 529162528 91122 2022–23 Frölunda HC SHL 5111182914 1212327SHL totals 915199312511814 174345185217NHL totals 1347192656 2545914

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2000 Sweden WJC18 63142 2002 Sweden WJC 6th 71126 2006 Sweden WC 81014 2009 Sweden WC 10000 2012 Sweden WC 6th 31122 2013 Sweden WC 100336 2014 Sweden WC 101014 2015 Sweden WC 5th 82130 2017 Sweden WC 101124 2018 Sweden OG 5th 4 0 0 0 6Junior totals 134268Senior totals 54661226

Awards and honors Award Year SHL Rookie of the Year nominee 2002 Le Mat Trophy champion 2003, 2005, 2016, 2019 AHL All-Star Game 2007 CHL Champion 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 MVP 2017

See also List of family relations in the NHL

References

External links