Topic: Erik Ersberg

Erik Ersberg (born March 8, 1982, in Sala, Sweden) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender, currently with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

Ersberg started his ice hockey career playing for VIK Västerås HK in HockeyAllsvenskan (tier two in the Swedish league structure). For season 2005–06 he joined the Jönköping based elite club HV71. As a backup goalie behind Stefan Liv, Ersberg guarded the net for ten games in his rookie season, ending the regular season with a save percentage of .929. In the Elitserien playoffs 2006 he played in two games with a .857 save percentage.

The following season he got his breakthrough and became starting goaltender for HV71 and was also selected for the Swedish national team in the 2006 Karjala Tournament and Channel One Cup. He is somewhat of a late bloomer as he has never before played for the national team, including youth and junior tournaments. In season 2006–07 he was nominated as the second candidate for the title Elitserien Rookie of the Year. On March 22, 2007, he was awarded the Honken Trophy, which is awarded to the Swedish goaltender of the year. On May 31, 2007, Los Angeles announced on their web site that they have signed Ersberg to a one-year entry-level deal. He started the 2007–08 season playing for Manchester Monarchs in the American Hockey League.