Nick Hansen
Registered User
- Sep 28, 2017
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How good was Fredrik Olausson?
- Thread starter Nick Hansen
- Start date
He wasn't small he was just soft. Good puck mover, good shot. Good all around at anything related to offense but he was at best average or a bit below average defensively.
Also extremely soft.
The jets had plenty of puck moving defensemen from the mid-late 80's up until the mid 90's. Unlike the beginning of the decade where Babych was the only one who could connect a pass.
Also extremely soft.
The jets had plenty of puck moving defensemen from the mid-late 80's up until the mid 90's. Unlike the beginning of the decade where Babych was the only one who could connect a pass.
He was actually 6'2 200 so not small at all.
Great PP QB. Especially next to Housley which was one of the most lethal point man combinations ever.
At ES a 3rd pairing guy who needed to be sheltered. Defensive play very poor.
His point splits are just hilarious. 1991-92 scores 62 points ... only 15 at ES. Is outscored 74-43 at ES for a -31 while playing offensive minutes for an over-.500 playoff team with a positive goal differential as a team. And he had a bunch of seasons like that.
ForsbergForever
Registered User
- May 19, 2004
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He was actually 6'1/195lbs so he had good size... He played on some pretty terrible Jets and Oilers teams which might explain his terrible +/- numbers. His best years came in a high scoring era so I doubt he'd be racking up 60 pt seasons nowadays. I never really saw him play but he strikes me more as a complementary piece rather than an offensive driver a la Zubov for instance. For comparison's sake Zarley Zalapski (RIP) was putting up similar numbers at the same time and nobody remembers him...
Jets weren't bad when they had him, they were average or above average but not contenders.
vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2007
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he had a monster slapshot. i don't think he was an elite offensive player though, just a very good one. getting to play point opposite to housley pushed him to back to back 10+ PP goal seasons.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
Soft = Scared to go into corners while looking visibly physically intimidated 90% of the time.
We actually had probably the toughest Swede of all time playing in Winnipeg (Steen), Shame Olausson didn't take a page from his book.
Another example was Numminen, a finnish defenseman the jets had around the same time. Not super physical but not soft either.
Olausson wasn't soft in the 2002 playoffs. He made a great partner for Lidstrom and I remember him going after Forsberg physically a few times. It was the tail end of his career so maybe he just matured and knew it would be his last crack at the Cup.
DannyGallivan
Your world frightens and confuses me
DannyGallivan
Your world frightens and confuses me
I'd take Numminen over Olausson, but both were above average d-men with offensive upside. Freddie was pretty, pretty, pretty good. Not great.
sr edler
gold is not reality
- Mar 20, 2010
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If anyone wonders what kind of name Olausson is Olaus is the Latin version of the name Olof.
By the way, I remember an unremarkable story about Olausson regarding him coming back to Sweden after having played in North America for a few seasons. The biggest difference in Swedish society (according to Olausson) was that people wore fancier jeans. This has me wondering if he didn’t visit Sweden at all in the summers, like if he lived in exile in NA like an Iron Curtain player. Perhaps Winnipeg was Canada’s fashion center at the time Olausson played there? He could have bought up a whole lot of jeans and sold them for big $ in Europe.
By the way, I remember an unremarkable story about Olausson regarding him coming back to Sweden after having played in North America for a few seasons. The biggest difference in Swedish society (according to Olausson) was that people wore fancier jeans. This has me wondering if he didn’t visit Sweden at all in the summers, like if he lived in exile in NA like an Iron Curtain player. Perhaps Winnipeg was Canada’s fashion center at the time Olausson played there? He could have bought up a whole lot of jeans and sold them for big $ in Europe.
ManofSteel55
Registered User
I thought he was one of the more underrated players of his era. Good offensive skills, adequate defensively for the most part.
ShelbyZ
Registered User
- Apr 8, 2015
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His insertion back into the Red Wings line-up (and next to Lidstrom) for the 2002 playoffs after being benched in favor of Uwe Krupp ended up stabilizing their blue line after going down two games to the Canucks. They ended up running with Lidstrom, Olausson, Chelios, Fischer, Duchesne and Dandenault for the duration of the playoffs until Jiri Slegr went in for the Cup clinching game due to a suspension to Fischer. Olausson played very well in those playoffs.
Otherwise, he moved up and down the depth chart for the Wings during that season. He started as a regular, but then got briefly moved to the pressbox in favor of Krupp. Then Olausson was in and out of the line-up with some kind of illness. For the rest of the year, when healthy he alternated being dressed or scratched with rookie Jesse Wallin, until he got hurt right before the trade deadline. His injury was what prompted Holland to shop for Kasparaitis and eventually acquire Jiri Slegr. Once healthy again, he was rested most of the remaining games before once again being relegated to the press box in favor of Krupp to start the playoffs.
IIRC, after the playoffs the Red Wings were open to bring him back after Duchesne retired, but he took the offer from the Ducks because they guaranteed him a 2nd pair and PP role that he didn't really have in Detroit.
Otherwise, he moved up and down the depth chart for the Wings during that season. He started as a regular, but then got briefly moved to the pressbox in favor of Krupp. Then Olausson was in and out of the line-up with some kind of illness. For the rest of the year, when healthy he alternated being dressed or scratched with rookie Jesse Wallin, until he got hurt right before the trade deadline. His injury was what prompted Holland to shop for Kasparaitis and eventually acquire Jiri Slegr. Once healthy again, he was rested most of the remaining games before once again being relegated to the press box in favor of Krupp to start the playoffs.
IIRC, after the playoffs the Red Wings were open to bring him back after Duchesne retired, but he took the offer from the Ducks because they guaranteed him a 2nd pair and PP role that he didn't really have in Detroit.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
He was not small but played a non physical game. Very European style. But he played in the very physical smythe division and after awhile his body did not like the ware and tear and it started to break down
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
totally, completely different classes of players though. Numminen was a number one defenseman and would have been number one on most teams in the league. Olausson spent most of his career playing a number 4/5 role at even-strength while being a power-play specialist.
Pietrangelo and shattenkirk...
DannyGallivan
Your world frightens and confuses me
Both players, along with Dave Ellett and Phil Housley, were part of ex-Jet GM Mike Smith's "master plan" of an elite offensive force from the blueline (a highly flawed plan). Pretty sure that Olaousson saw a lot of first pairing action, since he had two seasons of 62 points (including a 20 goal campaign) and seasons of 55 and 57 points during his time in Winnipeg. That's kinda high for even a second pairing defenseman, even considering the high scoring era he played in.
billybudd
Registered User
- Feb 1, 2012
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As PMDs go, Olausson was pretty average, probably.
No kidding. Olausson sat out a month when he was on the Penguins because of a cracked tooth.
No kidding. Olausson sat out a month when he was on the Penguins because of a cracked tooth.
Michael Farkas
Celebrate 68
I don't fully get why he didn't work out better in Pittsburgh...that donkey Kevin Hatcher was in steady decline, Woolley was there for his first year but was gone just that fast and the rest of the guys were not great at handling the disc...surprised he didn't go all Anton Stralman for us, as opposed to, ya know, not very much...
He played on the top unit PP where he scored all his points. He was not even close to a top-pairing defender at ES.
Again, of his 62 points in 1991-92, only 15 were at ES.
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
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