With 252 caps, Ronald Pettersson is ranked fourth all-time in games played by a Swedish national, as of 2013. This feat was long considered an unbreakable record, but he was surpassed by Thomas Rundqvist in 1993 and later by Jonas Bergqvist and Jörgen Jönsson. A right winger, Pettersson played with three clubs during his career. He started to play with Surahammars IF in 1952 and from 1955-60 played with Södertälje SK. In 1960, Pettersson moved to Västra Frölunda IF and played there until a serious ankle injury put an end to his playing career in 1967. With Södertälje, Pettersson won the Swedish title in 1956 and he won his second Swedish title in 1965 with Västra Frölunda. Pettersson was also awarded the Goldpucken Award in 1960 as the best player at the Swedish Championship and he was selected to the Swedish Championship all-star team in 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1965-67. During his 252 caps with the national team between 1954-67, Pettersson scored 99 goals, which places him third, as of 2013, on the Swedish national team’s goals scoring list behind legendary Sven Tumba and Nils Nilsson.
Pettersson won an Olympic silver in 1964, was a World Champion in 1957 and 1962 and won silvers at the 1963 and 1967 World Championships and bronzes at the 1958 and 1965 World Championships. He was also European champion in 1957 and 1962, won silver at the 1956, 1958, 1963, 1964 and 1967 European Championships and bronzes at the 1959, 1960 and 1965 European Championships. Like many other Swedish hockey stars of that era, Pettersson also played top-level football in the summer and won a bronze at the Swedish Championship in 1961 with IFK Göteborg.
After finishing his playing career, Pettersson worked as an ice hockey coach. He was the head coach for the Swedish national junior team from 1968-74, the Swedish national senior team from 1974-76, and the Norwegian national team from 1978-81. He later ran a gas station with his teammate from the national team and Södertälje and Västra Frölunda clubs, Lars-Eric Lundvall, and Pettersson also tried his hand in fashion designing, bringing out his men’s underwear brand in 1999. Pettersson was awarded the Stora Grabbars Märke (Big Boys’ Badge) #50 in ice hockey and was selected to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004.
Norway 
Sweden