Rickard Fagerlund served as president of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association for 19 years, from 1983 till 2002. During his term, Sweden won four IIHF World Championship gold medals and five silver medals. As well, Sweden captured one Olympic gold medal (1994), one silver (with the womens team) and two bronze. It was Rickard Fagerlund who led the revival of the Swedish hockey program in the 1980s that led to the successes in the 90s and into the 21st century. No other Swedish association president enjoyed so much success during his tenure as Fagerlund.

Always charismatic, outspoken and available to media, Fagerlund made sure that ice hockey got more than its share of exposure in newspapers and on television. Under Fagerlunds guiding hand, his sport grew enormously in popularity, public awareness, and active participation. He became a member of the IIHF Council in 1994 and as chairman of the IIHF Marketing Committee he was in charge of several programs which increased the visibility of the IIHF.

One of Fagerlunds main assets was his thorough knowledge of the game. He started as a player, with a local club BK Star in his home town of Södertälje, but was very soon recruited to the big-league club Södertälje SK where he won the Swedish championship in 1956. Fagerlund even managed to play eight games with the national team, Tre Kronor, becoming one of the very few top nation association presidents with national team credentials.