| Played For: | Toronto Maple Leafs New York Islanders Rögle BK (SEL) |
| Position: | Defence |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 217 |
| Ntl Team: | SWE |
| Birth Date: | 6 October 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Ängelholm, Sweden |
| Draft: | 12th overall |
| Draft Year: | 1993 |
| Draft Team: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Career Start: | 1991 |
| Career End: | 2009 |
Kenny Per Anders Jönsson (born 6 October 1974) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders, and for Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League. Internationally, he played for the Sweden men's national ice hockey team and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
Jönsson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1st round as the 12th overall selection in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. After playing with the Toronto club during the 1994–95 lockout shortened season, he was traded midway through the 1995–96 season to the New York Islanders in a player exchange which brought highly popular former captain Wendel Clark back to Toronto. Jönsson then spent the remainder of his NHL career with the Islanders. After playing with the Swedish second division team Rögle BK, where he started his career, during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he announced in the summer of 2005 that he was staying with the club for the 2005–06 season.
Jönsson played with the Islanders from 1996 through 2004. Fans and journalists considered Jönsson one of the most underrated defensemen in the league during his time in the NHL. He played good positional defense and had sound offensive skills as well, but his quiet demeanor and low-key playing style kept him below the radar of some observers.[1] During the 1999–2000 NHL season, Jönsson was named captain of the Islanders. After a season and a half, he stepped down and ultimately was succeeded by Michael Peca.
He was voted Best Defender of the Tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics where Sweden won the gold medal. This was quite surprising considering he had spent a season in the Swedish second division, while most of the other players played in the NHL.
His brother Jörgen is also a well-known Swedish ice hockey player; the two were briefly teammates in the 1999-2000 NHL season.
During IHWC 2006 World Championship, with brother Jörgen initially sidelined by injury, he was named captain of the Swedish national team.
Prior to the 2010–11 season, Jönsson signed as an assistant coach of Rögle BK. However, after the end of the season, it was announced that he would leave Rögle as an assistant coach.[2] Jönsson is currently assistant coach for Helsingborgs Hockey Club, educating the defense players.[3]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991–92 | Rögle BK | SWE II | 30 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | Rögle BK | J20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Rögle BK | SEL | 39 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Rögle BK | SEL | 36 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1994–95 | Rögle BK | SEL | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | St. John's Maple Leafs | AHL | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 39 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 50 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | New York Islanders | NHL | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 81 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | New York Islanders | NHL | 81 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | New York Islanders | NHL | 63 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | New York Islanders | NHL | 65 | 1 | 24 | 25 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | New York Islanders | NHL | 65 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | New York Islanders | NHL | 76 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2002–03 | New York Islanders | NHL | 71 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | New York Islanders | NHL | 79 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Rögle BK | SWE II | 11 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2005–06 | Rögle BK | SWE II | 29 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Rögle BK | SWE II | 14 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Rögle BK | SWE II | 34 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Rögle BK | SEL | 47 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SEL totals | 130 | 16 | 48 | 64 | 128 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| NHL totals | 686 | 63 | 204 | 267 | 298 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Sweden | EJC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | |
| 1993 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | |
| 1994 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | |
| 1994 | Sweden | OLY | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1994 | Sweden | WC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 1996 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Sweden | WCH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 2002 | Sweden | OLY | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2005 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Sweden | OLY | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |
| 2007 | Sweden | WC | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2008 | Sweden | WC | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 20 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 32 | |||
| Senior totals | 64 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 38 | |||