Career
Participant of the first major wave of Europeans to star in North American hockey, he was a major star in the WHA from 1974 to 1978. He scored at least 114 points in each of his four seasons in the upstart league, finishing third or fourth among overall scorers every time. He led the WHA with 85 assists in 1976-1977, and tied Marc Tardif for the lead the next season with 89.
In the 1976 playoffs, he scored 26 points in just 13 games and was named WHA Playoff Most Valuable Player. In the summer of 1978, Nilsson and Hedberg signed with the National Hockey League"s New York Rangers for $2.4 million, further weakening the struggling WHA which would cease operations after just one more season.
Nilsson"s National Hockey League career was marred by two significant injuries. The first was a broken ankle suffered when his skate blade got caught in a crevice in the Madison Square Garden ice as he was hit by Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders, which resulted in Nilsson bearing the entire force of the hit on only one legal
Although Nilsson has never characterized the hit as dirty and, in 2009, said, "He was always fair. But the ice was never great in the Garden because they had basketball and other events.
My foot got caught. lieutenant was a freak thing," the incident is nevertheless commemorated by the "Potvin Sucks" chant that takes place during every Rangers home game.
Nilsson"s second serious injury was to his knee while representing Sweden at the 1981 Canada Cup which caused him to miss the entire 1981-1982 season. Nilsson was limited to 160 games in his three full seasons with the Rangers, though he scored an impressive 163 points in that time. After missing the previous season, he returned to the Rangers lineup for ten games early in the 1982-1983 season.
Nilsson tested positive for ephedrine after Sweden"s 4–1 victory over Poland on 6 April 1974, at the 1974 World Ice Hockey Championships.
Nilsson was suspended for the remainder of the tournament.
