Roland Stoltz was known during his career as “the slowest but best defender of the World.” Stoltz might not have been the fastest skater, but he had a very good eye and tactical mind of the game. He and Lars Björn are regarded as one of the best defense duos in the history of Swedish and European hockey. Playing together nearly a decade, they were behind the success of the Swedish national team and Djurgårdens IF in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Working as a mechanic for Atlas Kopco, a well-known mining machinery manufacturer in Sweden, Stoltz took up ice hockey with the company club Atlas Diesels IF in 1948. In 1955, Stoltz moved to Djurgårdens and played there until the end of his career in 1970. With Djurgårdens, Stoltz won six Swedish titles in a row from 1958-63 and he was awarded the Goldpucken Award in 1959 as the best player at the Swedish Championship. He was also selected to the Swedish Championship all-star team five times in 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964 and 1966.
Stoltz was capped 218 times with the Swedish national team between 1955-68. Stoltz won Olympic silver in 1964, was a World Champion in 1957 and 1962, won silvers at the 1963 and 1967 and bronzes at the 1958 and 1965 World Championships. He was named the best defenseman of the 1963 World Championships tournament. Stoltz also won European titles in 1957 and 1962, won silvers at the 1958, 1963, 1964 and 1967 European Championships and bronzes at the 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965 and 1968 European Championships. He was awarded the Stora Grabbars Märke (Big Boys’ Badge) #52 in ice hockey. After finishing his hockey career, Stoltz worked as an ice hockey commentator with Swedish national television. He was elected to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.