Ragnarsson Upholds Swedish Tradition with San Jose

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999

By Lucas Aykroyd

If it’s true Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg are robots manufactured by IKEA, as a recent Canadian TV commercial joked, perhaps Marcus Ragnarsson of the San Jose Sharks came from the same factory. He is a prototypical Swedish defenseman.

“I’m getting used to living in California now, and I like there, but obviously you miss your family_and the food,” the 27-year-old native of Ostervala, Sweden said with a grin during an interview with EuroReport after his Sharks walloped the Vancouver Canucks 7-0 at GM Place on 2 April.

He’s a key part of a San Jose team that’s fighting for one of the final playoff berths in the Western Conference, and that’s why he — along with partner Mike Rathje — gets mega ice time from coach Darryl Sutter. Ragnarsson played a team-high 27:36 during a game in Ottawa on 26 March. It’s a challenge he relishes.

“I’m out there against the other team’s top line a lot of games, and it’s been working pretty well during the second half of the season,” said Ragnarsson.

Reflecting the huge roster turnover in San Jose in recent seasons, Ragnarsson ranks third among active Sharks in points (92). But his offensive production seems to have tailed off since his rookie season of 1995-96 (8-31-39). This season, he has yet to score a goal, although he has 11 assists. On the bright side, San Jose has the fifth-best defensive record in the league and the positionally sound Ragnarsson’s plus-minus rating of plus-5 is higher than ever before in his NHL career.

“I’ve tried to focus more on defensive play and I don’t join the attack as much as I used to,” Ragnarsson acknowledged. “If I get a chance, I’ll move up, and I think the last four or five games I’ve been trying to create something offensively. The goals and assists are not that important. I’d rather see the team win.”

Winning became a more difficult prospect for the Sharks when they lost veteran defenseman Gary Suter with a torn triceps muscle on 24 October. Although Suter’s injury wasn’t generally mourned around the league — many saw it as just dessert of a kind for the concussion he gave Anaheim’s Paul Kariya in 1997-98 –the Sharks had to adjust their blueline plans for the season.

“Obviously it was a tough break for us,” Ragnarsson said. “But it means a chance for the other defensemen to step up.”

Besides Ragnarsson, former top pick Andrei Zyuzin had a chance to step up, too. But the young Russian defender recently quit the club after saying he had problems with Sharks management and coaches, apparently on the advice of his new agent Vitali Shevchenko. All Ragnarsson knows is that it means he’s even more important now.

“It’s tough,” Ragnarsson said about Zyuzin’s situation. “He’s just a young kid and maybe he got some bad advice. I don’t know.”

Ragnarsson brightened when asked to discuss the keys to his team’s success during an eight-game unbeaten streak from 9-26 March. It was the second longest such streak ever for the Sharks, bettered only by a nine-game streak in 1993-94.

“We came together as a team during this stretch,” Ragnarsson said. “We focused on doing the little things, like not turning the puck over. I think that’s the key to our game, trying to keep the odd-man rushes down.”

And Ragnarsson says the acquisition of Vincent Damphousse means more than the point-per-game pace the former Montreal captain set in his first games with the Sharks. It actually brings a new tempo to the team’s play.

“He controls the puck and he controls the game. He comes down behind our net and dishes the puck off. It helps a lot.”

Given Ragnarsson’s boyhood admiration for Borje Salming, the greatest Swede to ever don Toronto Maple Leaf colors, his choice for the cream of the crop of today’s NHL defenders doesn’t come as a big surprise.

“I like Nicklas Lidstrom,” Ragnarsson said. “He’s probably the best defenseman. He reads the play great, and he’s always in the right position. He’s not physical but he’s always right there, so it’s tough for the forwards to get around him.”

Playing alongside Lidstrom at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano ranks as one of Ragnarsson’s all-time biggest hockey thrills, despite Sweden’s disappointing performance at the Games.

But his club’s follow-up season has been anything but disappointing. He says as long as the Sharks retain their commitment to defense first, they could surprise some teams in the playoffs. He’s happy to be in San Jose.

Now, if only they could figure out how to make better Swedish meatballs in Northern California…