Patrick Thoresen

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Patrick Thoresen
Born (1983-11-07) November 7, 1983
Oslo, Norway
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 188 lb (85 kg; 13 st 6 lb)
Position Left Wing, Center
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams 		SKA Saint Petersburg
KHL
 Salavat Yulaev Ufa
NHL
 Edmonton Oilers
 Philadelphia Flyers
Elitserien
 Djurgården
National League A
 HC Lugano
National team  Norway
Playing career 2003–present

Patrick Thoresen (born November 7, 1983) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey left winger who currently serves as the assistant captain for SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He resides in Hamar, Norway, where he grew up, during the off season.[1] He has a younger brother, Steffen who's also an ice hockey player. His father Petter was one of Norway's most notable players who played at five Olympic Winter Games (1980–1994). Thoresen would follow in his father's footsteps and play in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010.

Playing career

Thoresen started his career with his hometown Storhamar Dragons before he shifted to Canada and played junior hockey for two teams in the QMJHL; the Moncton Wildcats, and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. In the 2002–03 season, while a member of the Drakkar, he had 108 points in 71 games played, good enough for second in team scoring. His 75 assists that season were best in the QMJHL. This was a vast improvement from his first year of junior in which he compiled 73 points in 60 games played.

His first year of pro hockey in the Elitserien was a learning year for him in which most of his time was spent with the Division 2 team, Mörrums GoIS IK. He worked hard down there and put up 41 points in 38 games and eventually found himself back among the Swedish elite. He then spent the next two years playing for Djurgården full-time, playing a total of 80 games and collecting 53 points, 27 of them being goals.

On May 31, 2006, Thoresen signed a contract with the Oilers as a free agent. He was somewhat of a major surprise in training camp before the 2006–07 season, and played well enough for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish to publicly state that he had earned a spot on the roster.[2]

Thoresen became only the fifth player from Norway to play a game in the NHL, the others being Bjørn Skaare, Anders Myrvold, Espen Knutsen, and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen. In fact Thoresen was the first Norwegian NHL'er not previously drafted.

Thoresen scored his first NHL goal on October 12, 2006 against the San Jose Sharks (Evgeni Nabokov). He tallied four goals (including two game winners) and notched 12 assists in 68 games during his rookie campaign. He was a -1, among the best of the Oilers regulars that season.

On February 22, 2008, Thoresen was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers.

On April 11, 2008, Thoresen was hit in the groin by a Mike Green slapshot during a playoff game against the Capitals. Thoresen was taken off the ice and driven to a local hospital.[3] He returned to action later in the playoffs, after becoming the first Norwegian born player to take part in NHL postseason play.

On July 14, 2008, Thoresen signed a one-year contract with HC Lugano of the Swiss League. He finished the season totaling 63 points in 48 games, good for third overall in the NLA.

On May 21, 2009, Thoresen signed a two-year contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Kontinental Hockey League.[4] He finished the regular season with 57 points in 56 games, sixth overall in the entire KHL. He also led all players in the plus/minus category with +45 (the previous season best was Alexei Tereshchenko with +41). He scored seven game-winning goals (2nd overall), including four consecutive game-winning goals to end the regular season.

During the offseason of 2010 he opted out of his current contract with Salavat Yulaev, seeking a new NHL contract [5] but after failing to do so, he decided to stay with Salavat for another season.[6] Thoresen ended the 2010/11 KHL regular season as second overall in point scoring (65), second in goals scored (29) and third in assists (36). During the playoffs he amassed a total of 18 points en route to winning the Gagarin Cup, as the first Norwegian ever. His three goals and fifteen assists was tied with Alexander Radulov for the team lead in points and fourth overall in the KHL.[7]

Thoresen is a two-time nominee for the Norwegian team sports athlete of the year award (Idrettsgallaen - 2009 and 2010).

International career

Thoresen has represented his country of Norway on the Norwegian national team numerous times. His first experience came at the IIHF World U18 Championship in 2000 and 2001. He played in the World Junior Championships (division 1) in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, he posted excellent numbers: four goals and four assists in five games.

He culminated in representing the men's team in the World Championships in 2006 and 2007, picking up a goal and four assists in the six games in 2007.

He was selected to represent Team Norway at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, in which he had an impressive tournament and tallied five assists in four games. At the 2010 World Championships in Germany he notched six points in six games and led all players in scoring after the preliminary round.[8]

He was second in tournament scoring at the 2012 World Championships, tallying 18 points in only eight games. This included a 3-goal, 6-point effort in a 12-4 win over Germany.[9] He was also named to the tournament's all-star team, becoming the first Norwegian ever to be named to the IIHF top division all star team.[10]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–00 Storhamar Dragons NOR1 26 1 8 9 2 — — — — —
2000–01 Storhamar Dragons NOR1 41 18 27 45 24 3 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Storhamar Dragons IIHF CC 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2001–02 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 60 30 43 73 50 — — — — —
2002–03 Baie-Comeau Drakkar QMJHL 71 33 75 108 57 12 2 8 10 8
2003–04 Djurgården SEL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2004–05 Djurgården SEL 30 10 7 17 33 12 2 2 4 29
2005–06 Djurgården SEL 50 17 19 36 44 — — — — —
2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 68 4 12 16 42 — — — — —
2006–07 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 5 1 5 6 4 — — — — —
2007–08 Springfield Falcons AHL 29 13 13 26 13 — — — — —
2007–08 Edmonton Oilers NHL 17 2 1 3 6 — — — — —
2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 21 0 5 5 8 14 0 2 2 4
2008–09 HC Lugano NLA 48 22 41 63 83 7 1 7 8 0
2009–10 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 56 24 33 57 71 15 5 9 14 37
2010–11 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 54 29 37 66 30 21 3 15 18 16
2011–12 SKA St. Petersburg KHL 45 15 26 41 34 15 2 5 7 10
2012–13 SKA St. Petersburg KHL 52 21 30 51 49 15 3 10 13 10
NHL totals 106 6 18 24 66 14 0 2 2 4
KHL totals 207 89 126 215 184 66 13 39 52 73

References

  1. ↑ NRK Nett-TV - hastighetsmåling
  2. ↑ CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Columnists - Tychkowski: Thoresen's in!
  3. ↑ Flyers LW Patrick Thoresen taken to hospital after being hit in groin by Green’s shot
  4. ↑ Rasmussen, John (2009-05-21). "Thoresen går til Russland". Dagbladet.no. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
  5. ↑ Lorentz, Cato (2010-06-02). "- 98 prosent sikkert at Thoresen spiller i NHL". vg.no. Retrieved 2010-07-15. 
  6. ↑ Wedervang, Mats (2010-07-22). "Patrick Thoresen blir i Russland i én sesong til.". tv2sporten.no. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
  7. ↑ "Stats : Leaders". en.khl.ru. 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-04-18. 
  8. ↑ Burheim, Mads (2010-05-14). "Patrick Thoresen leder poengligaen i VM". dagbladet.no. Retrieved 2010-07-15. 
  9. ↑ Norway sweep Germany aside in world ice hockey championships
  10. ↑ "Malkin wins MVP honours". IIHF.com. 2012-05-20. Retrieved 2012-05-29. 

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