The Rangers GM John Ferguson scouted Astrom at the 1977 World Championships in Vienna and the goalie stood up to the scrutiny, helping his native Sweden win the silver medal at that year's tournament. Fergie put him on the team's negotiating list, and that fall Astrom was a Broadway Blueshirt.
But Hardy played only four games that 1977-78 season, finishing the year again at the Worlds where Tre Kronor finished fourth after he had spent the majority of the year in the minors.
Disappointed by his NHL treatment, he retreated to Sweden for all of 1978-79 but when his rights were traded in the summer to lowly Colorado he thought he'd have a better chance of getting into more games. That he did, but with the Rockies he was publicly pilloried by coach Don Cherry for not being able to stop a beachball. The goalie's record of 9-27-6 didn't help matters, and at year's end Cherry was fired and Astrom returned for another year!
A similar fate befell the goalie, though, who was demoted after playing 30 games. He hung around North America for one more season in the minors and then moved home where he continued his career in the Swedish league for another four years.
