Henrik Lundqvist Biography
Henrik Lundqvist retires as one of the top goaltenders in NHL history. He played his entire 15 season NHL career for the New York Rangers, and is the team’s all-time leader in wins (459) and shutouts (64). Prior to winning Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender in 2012, he was nominated in each of his first three seasons. A dominating rookie season in 2005 earned him the nickname “King Henrik.” Just one year later, during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, he led the Swedish men’s team to their second Olympic gold medal. Henrik is the only goaltender in NHL history to record 30 wins in each of his first seven seasons (and 11 of his first 12), and was named Rangers MVP 8 times.
Before joining the Rangers as the 205th overall pick of the 2000 NHL Draft, Lundqvist played for Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien. During his years in Sweden, he developed into the league’s finest goaltender, winning the Honken Trophy three consecutive seasons; 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2005 he also won two of the most prestigious awards in Swedish ice hockey, the Golden Puck and the Golden Helmet.
In 2014, Henrik and his wife Therese founded the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation, a non-profit organization with a focus on health and education for children and families. The HLF Young Ambassadors program selects children from New York metro area schools to perform service projects in their communities each year.
In 2015, Henrik starred in the Emmy award-winning MSG Network series The Mask. The show featured interviews with luminaries from sports and entertainment, including Jeff Gordon, John McEnroe, and Tiësto. Each episode culminated in the creation of a custom goalie mask, which Henrik wore during the Rangers’ season. The masks were auctioned with proceeds benefitting Henrik’s foundation.
After his stellar on-ice career came to a close, Henrik joined MSG Network for in-studio coverage of Rangers games beginning with the 2021-22 NHL season.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Swedish Junior Champ | 1999 , 2000
- Junior Hockey Player of the Year | 2002
- Swedish Champ | 2003, 2005
- World Championship Silver Medal |2003, 2004
- Honken Trophy | 2003, 2004, 2005
- Guld hjälmen | 2005
- Guldpucken | 2005
- NHL Rookie All-Star | 2006
- Olympic Champion | 2006
- Olympic Runner-Up | 2014
- World Champion Inline Hockey | 2006
- Nominated for Vezina Trophy | 2006, 2007, 2008
- Vezina Trophy Winner 2012
- Finalist for NHL Foundation Player Award | 2015
- Finalist for ESPN Sports Humanitarian of the Year | 2015
- First NHL goaltender to start his career with 11 straight 20 win seasons | 2016
- Recorded his 60th shutout in a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Blues | 2016
- Earned 390th career win, becoming all-time winningest European-born goaltender | 2016
- NY Rangers MVP | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016
- World Cup of Hockey – Bronze | 2016
- 12th goaltender, first Ranger, and fastest in league history to reach 400 win | 2017
- Ice Hockey World Championship (In Cologne/Paris) – Gold | 2017
- NHL All-Star | 2018
- Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | 2018
- Only goaltender in NHL history to win at least 20 games in 13 consecutive seasons | 2018