Peter Forsberg was one of the best players in the world during his career. He was also tough as nails, but he had one player he always hated playing against: Derian Hatcher.
Two Stanley Cups. Two Olympic gold medals. Two World Championship gold medals. Countless individual awards. Peter Forsberg had a career few other hockey players can match.
READ MORE: Sidney Crosby pays incredible tribute to Peter Forsberg
Peter Forsberg career stats
By the age of 22, Peter Forsberg was already a World Champion (1992), an Olympic champion (1994), and a Stanley Cup champion. Together with Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, and Claude Lemieux, Forsberg was a cornerstone of the successful 1990s Colorado Avalanche. Sadly, Forsberg suffered many injuries during his career, and when he hung up his skates in 2011, he did so with only 708 NHL games to his name. However, his 885 points give him a 1.25 points-per-game average, which ranks ninth in NHL history.
Many of the injuries Peter Forsberg suffered were due to his extremely physical style of play, often putting his body on the line to win battles for the puck. Forsberg is often credited with inventing the reverse hit. But even though he was a very tough player, Forsberg still remembers one opponent he hated playing against: Derian Hatcher.
Names his toughest opponent
Derian Hatcher captained the Dallas Stars to their first and only Stanley Cup win in 1999 and was a major rival for the Avalanche in the late 1990s. Standing 6’5″ and weighing 229 lbs, Hatcher was not an easy matchup for Forsberg. Speaking to Swedish outlet Sportbibeln, Forsberg recalls what it felt like playing against Hatcher:
“Derian Hatcher. Not very fun to be up against. He was so big and not the nicest player to face. One year, we were in the same division, so we faced them so many times. A lot of games against Hatcher. He gave everything on every inch of the ice. There were others who were better skaters, but against him you knew it would hurt for 60 minutes,” Forsberg said.
READ MORE: Peter Forsberg’s first words on Claude Lemieux’s death
