Having gained fame while playing for Hammarby in his youth, and while making his debut in the highest Swedish hockey league with AIK (Stockholm) leading him to the Swedish national team in the 1980 Winter Olympics, Lindbergh set his sights on the North American game. Lindbergh owns the distinction of being the goaltender on the only team that did not lose to the gold-medal-winning Team USA at the 1980 Olympics, as Team Sweden and Team USA played to a 2–2 tie in the first game of the tournament. Team Sweden would go on to win the bronze medal. After being drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft (second round, 35th overall), he started his North American career during the 1980–81 season by playing one and a half seasons for the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL) before playing his first games for the Flyers in 1982. In 1983, he was named goaltender of the NHL All-Rookie Team. He led the National Hockey League (NHL) with 40 wins, and games played with 65, he was second in both shutouts (2) and save percentage (.899), and was third in goals against average (3.02) during the 1984–85 season and won the Vezina Trophy, becoming the first European goaltender to do so in NHL history. That same year, he was also named a First Team All-Star. In his final game on 7 November 1985, he made 18 saves while leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6–2 win over the Chicago Black Hawks.[1]
At 5:41 a.m. on 10 November 1985, Lindbergh lost control of his customized Porsche 930 Turbo and struck a wall in front of a Somerdale, New Jersey, elementary school, critically injuring himself and severely injuring his two passengers.[2][3] He was hospitalized in Stratford, New Jersey, and declared brain dead a few hours later. His parents gave permission to end life-saving measures, and at 9:15 a.m. on 11 November, he was declared legally dead after all brain function had ceased.[2] His parents also agreed to organ donation, and so his heart was kept beating until 12 November, when his vital organs were harvested and prepared for transplantation.[2][4]
At the time of the accident, he had just left the Coliseum, the former practice center for the Flyers located in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, where he was attending a team party. He was intoxicated at the time of the accident, with a blood alcohol level of 0.24, well above New Jersey's legal limit (0.10) at that time.
Lindbergh topped the fan voting for the 1986 NHL All-Star Game. It would mark the first time that a player was chosen posthumously for an all-star team in a major North American team sport. Sean Taylor's selection to the 2008 Pro Bowl was the only other time this has happened. Although his number 31 was never officially retired by the Flyers, no Flyer has worn the number 31 since Lindbergh's death.[5] Lindbergh is buried in Skogskyrkogården, a cemetery in southern Stockholm.[6]
Pelle Circle, a residential street in Far Northeast Philadelphia, was named in his honor when it was constructed in 1986.
Swedish author Thomas Tynander wrote a biography, Pelle Lindbergh: bakom den vita masken, published in 2006.[7] An English version, Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask, was translated by Bill Meltzer and published in 2009.[8]
Awards and achievements
Named best goaltender at the European Junior Championships in 1976, and 1977.
