Huselius' hometown is
Haninge, a municipality near
Stockholm. He was drafted 47th overall at the
1997 NHL entry draft by the
Florida Panthers and entered the
National Hockey League (NHL) in 2002. A fast, skillful playmaker, Huselius typically plays on the wings and spent the early part of his career in the Swedish
Elitserien, playing for
Hammarby IF,
Färjestad BK and
Frölunda HC. The Panthers traded him to the
Calgary Flames on December 2, 2005, where he managed 39 points in 54 games, adjusting well despite fears by some analysts that he would not fit into Calgary's physical, defensive playing style. In the
2006–07 season, he held a point-streak of 15 games, the second-highest in the NHL that season. Huselius also garnered a career-high 77 points that season, scoring 34 goals and adding 43 assists. During the
2007–08 season, Huselius recorded his first career NHL
hat-trick against the
Tampa Bay Lightning. On 2 July 2008 Huselius signed a four-year, $19 million contract with the
Columbus Blue Jackets. He recorded 21 goals during his first season with the Blue Jackets and also scored a goal during the Blue Jackets' first round playoff loss at the hands of the
Detroit Red Wings; it was the Blue Jackets' first-ever appearance in the
Stanley Cup playoffs. Huselius played in only 33 games for Columbus after tearing a
chest muscle. Following the
2011–12 season, he was released. Huselius stated that the Blue Jackets had rushed his recovery, and that he was not given ample time to recover from his injury. He stated that he was forced into game action too early, which resulted in him pulling his groin muscle and forcing him to miss the rest of the season with a slow recovery. On 8 January 2013, just days after the
2012–13 NHL lockout ended, Huselius announced his retirement from professional hockey due to injury.
Suspension due to sex scandal In 2005, Huselius and fellow Swedish hockey players
Henrik Tallinder and
Andreas Lilja were investigated on suspicion of sexual exploitation. In March 2005, all three players were suspended from the Swedish national team for one year, with Huselius and Tallinder being released by
Linköpings HC and Lilja being suspended by
Mora IK for the rest of the season. On 9 February 2005 a 22-year-old woman accused the trio of raping her. Two days later, police dropped their investigation due to a lack of evidence. However, a special prosecutor reopened the case in March, leading to the suspensions. Huselius and the others were cleared in June of that year after a special prosecutor ruled there was no evidence they forced the woman to have sex. ==Awards==