Former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Johan Hedberg has been hired as a coach of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
Per a release from that team, Hedberg signed a three-year contract Thursday.
A native of Sweden, the 51-year-old Hedberg began his professional career as a player with Leksands IF in the 1990s.
Hedberg gained something of a cult following in Pittsburgh over three seasons in the early 2000s.
After being acquired via trade late in the 2000-01 season, Hedberg took over as the team’s starting goaltender and helped lead the Penguins to a surprising run to the Eastern Conference final.
His success came while he wore a vivid blue mask with “Moose” imprinted on it, the name of his previous team, the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. As his profile began to rise in Pittsburgh, fans would chant “Moose!” anytime Hedberg made a save.
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At one point, a fan defaced the sign for the Heidelberg exit on the Parkway West to make it spell out “He d berg.”
In total, Hedberg spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. In 116 games with the club, he posted a 46-57-12 record, a 2.68 goals against average, a .901 save percentage and seven shutouts.
Along with the Penguins, Hedberg played for five different NHL clubs, including the Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils.
Retiring as a player in 2014, he became a goaltending coach with the AHL’s Albany Devils before taking on the same role with the San Jose Sharks in 2015. He remained in that position with San Jose for parts of five seasons.
Hedberg has previous head coaching experience in Sweden. He guided Mora IK of the second-tier Allsvensken league for three seasons as well as Orebro HK of the SHL during part of the 2023-24 campaign.
This season, Hedberg was an assistant coach with Farjestad BK, also of the SHL, before being hired by Leksands.