Blueshirts Briefs: Sweden gave the Rangers ‘The Sieve’ before ‘The King’

Welcome to another edition of Blueshirts Briefs, a series highlighting individuals who worked a short shift for the New York Rangers.

As the magnificent career of one Swedish-born New York Rangers’ goaltender winds down, let’s look back at that of a fellow countryman and former Blueshirt who became the first European netminder to start an NHL game.

Hardy Astrom: A star in Sweden

Hardy Astrom was born on March 29, 1951, in Skelleftea, Sweden, located in the country’s northeastern coastal region along the Gulf of Bothnia.

Thirty-one years later and some 337 miles away in Are, in the country’s mountainous western half, Henrik Lundqvist was born.

But other than being born in Sweden and the No. 1 goalie for their country in international play, that’s where the similarities end between Astrom and Lundqvist.

Astrom joins the Rangers

Astrom was scouted by Rangers general John Ferguson at the 1977 World Championships in Vienna, where he led his country to a silver medal. He was signed as a free agent on March 15, 1977, but didn’t make his NHL debut until nearly a year later.

Astrom spent much of the 1977-78 season with New York’s AHL affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks, for whom he posted a 17-5-3 record, 2.63 goals-against average, and five shutouts in 27 games. Astrom was called up in February 1978 with Wayne Thomas ailing from a sore wrist and John Davidson in need of rest for his cranky knees and back.

On Feb. 25, 1978, at the Montreal Forum, of all places, Astrom made his first NHL start. The Rangers had a 20-29-11 record and hadn’t won at the “Cathedral at St. Catherines and Atwater” in six years. The Canadiens were 42-7-7 and riding a 28-game unbeaten streak.

Citing his international experience, Astrom said he wasn’t nervous about making his NHL debut against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

“It was my first game in the NHL but I had played big games before with Sweden,” Astrom told reporters according to George Grimm’s Guardians of the Goal. “I had beaten the Russians in Moscow and the Czechs in Prague. I thought I had a good chance of beating the Canadiens in Montreal.”

Astrom indeed won, stopping 29 of 32 shots in a 6-3 win for the Rangers, their first at the Forum in 14 games (1-11-2).

That would be the highlight of Astrom’s tenure with the Rangers, however.

Astrom went on to lose his next two games, both at Madison Square Garden, allowing five goals on 31 shots to the Atlanta Flames, and four tallies in 32 bids by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won his final start for New York on April 9, 1978, at the Garden, turning aside 29 of 31 attempts by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Astrom ended his tenure on Broadway with a 2-2 record, 3.50 GAA and .887 save percentage for a Rangers team that finished last in the Patrick Division with a 30-37-13 record.

Back to Sweden

Astrom returned to Sweden for the 1978-79 season and played for Skelleftea AIK. In July 1979, his NHL rights were traded to the Colorado Rockies for left-wing Bill Lochead.

Picked apart by a Cherry

Despite bringing in Don Cherry as head coach, the Rockies had the fewest wins (19) and points (51) in the twenty-one team league, as well as the second-most losses (48) and sixth-highest total for goals against (308). Astrom posted a 9-27-6 record, 3.77 GAA, and .870 Sv%, his 27 defeats the third-most in the NHL that season, which isn’t all that bad considering the team he played behind.

Cherry was fired after the season after a dispute with GM Ray Miron, whom the coach blamed for not acquiring a better goalie than Astrom. Cherry pinned most of the blame for his team’s ineptitude on Astrom and went on to regularly lambaste the Swedish goalie during his “Coach’s Corner” segments on Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts over the ensuing decades.

“We had a good team, but we had the ‘Swedish Sieve’ in Hardy Astrom and Ray Miron – I think you spell that with an ‘O’ – and you can put that in there,” Cherry told milehighsports.com in an October 2013 interview. “(Miron) wouldn’t get us a goalie.”

Astrom played for Colorado the following season under new coach Billy MacMillan, under whom the Rockies marginally improved to 22-45-13 for 57 points. Astrom saw a lighter workload, posting a 6-15-6 mark, 3.77 GAA, and .869 Sv%.

In 1981-82, Astrom played 35 games for Oklahoma of the Central Hockey League before returning to and playing in Sweden for three more years. He ended his pro career after the 1985-86 season at the age of 35.

At last check, the 69-year-old Astrom was enjoying retirement in Sweden after a venture into construction work after hockey.

Editor’s note: While Hardy Astrom is popularly considered to be the first European born goalie to start an NHL game, there was a goalie named Alex Woods, born in Scotland, who started one game for the New York Americans in 1937.  In his only game, he played 70 minutes in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.  There is some confusion over his name as he is listed as Alex Woods, Alex Wood and Alec Woods.