Norwegians in the NHL
 

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well both Tollefsen, Holøs and Thoresen could play in the NHL if they wanted I'm certain. "Hobbit" Zuccarello just fit so much better in KHL.

Espen "Shampo" Knutsen - that was one star player. What a vision he had.

So how does the future look, has any Norwegians been drafted lately?

Keeper Lars Volden got drafted by the Bruins(Right?) and Marcus Søberg will most likely go this draft.

I'm forgetting someone right?

http://www.eliteprospects.com/draft_...php?NationID=5

Steffen Søberg is another goalie drafted the same year as Volden. Frøshaug is a bust - at least from an NHL perspective. So is Olden IMHO. Scott Winkler is taking his time to develop in the NCAA, but is putting up solid numbers this season, looks like he still has a shot.

Steffen Søberg was awesome at the WC-U20 - he personally win for Norway over Belarus and Denmark.
With Haugen-Volden-Søberg Norway has a fantastic new goalie generation.

Tollefsen was offered a contract by Nashville last year but turned it down, because of family reasons. (seems to be happy in Sweden) He probably would have been 7th defenseman maybe gotten a few games, and battle for a spot in the third D-pair.

Holøs is a great defenseman but he is to soft, he would have to play more physical. Play as D-man In the NHL and not being able to do that just ain’t good enough. There where some rumors about his coach Joe Sacco, that he didn’t like him. But I think that was just some false rumors. In the NHL you earn your spot on the team trough hard and good work, and if you do just that I think every coach gives you a spot on the roster no matter what.

I really think that Thoresen is a player who would had been good enough for a third or even a second line in NHL. He just signed a new contract with CSKA this weekend buy the way.

Yes, Zuccarello is better on international size ice rink.

Really hope Norway can get a player like Espen once again sometime in the future, he was great.

But what about offense,how does Norway look after Zuccarello and Thoresen leave?

Holøs is a bit like Philip Larsen (though Holøs probably still a little better). Not really physical but both are really good on PP. It's just about finding a coach that is into that kind of defensive players.
Tollefsen is good enough as 3 d-pair in NHL IMO.
Thoresen can play both wing and center and is defensively good. Even on a team that wouldn't use him as top6 he would be a great 3'rd liner, but he will rather be a KHL star.
I remember Espen Knutsen playing for Djurgården, especially the playoffs 1999-2000. He just owned the rink and became SEL champion!

Norway have their super team right now when they all peak.....it will go down in some years since they dont really have the same quality coming. But who knows - their recent succeses and increased popularity in Norway might bring some future prospects around the corner.

Do you know how long did it take (i`m going to use Latvia as an example) for us to get decent offensive prospects? our first successes started around 1996,1997 and only in 2012 we started to see the fruits-Girgensons and Bluegers. So it`s probably is going to take a long time and inbetween that time i predict a bit of stagnation even decline when this norway generation leaves,till new one arrives.

Lars Volden, Steffen Søberg, Scott Winkler, Mats Frøshaug and Sondre Olden. Some of those draft picks are dated back to 2008.

Yes,Volden and Søberg both drafted back in 2011. I really hope Marcus can be the first Norwegian to be drafted in the first round.

Mattias Nørstebø is another player that can have a bright future, he plays in the Swedish J20 Super elite with Brynäs. If he continues his good development maybe he can be drafted in the future.

I don't know if Frøshaug will ever make it to the NHL and I don’t know if Olden is going to make it either. Maybe there is still a small chance for Olden tough. I’m really optimistic about Winkler he is definitely a player who as the potential.

It will take about 10 years (Olimb, Røymark, Spets, Zuke, Holøs, Bonsaksen, Martinsen, Volden, Søberg, Olden, Mats Rosselli Olsen, Kristiansen, Ylven, Frøshaug, Haugen, Forsberg) Are all in their early- mid 20s. I guess they can keep going for another 10 years. Ofc we wont be able to replace Thoresen, Skrøder, Hansen, Bastiansen, Ask, Trygg, Tollefsen, Holtet etc.
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Norways future

Well we got Volden in sm league. He is a 20 year old goalie, drafted by the bruins and he has been rly good this season. Other future stars might be Mats Rosselli Olsen (swe 1), Ken Andre Olimb (swe 2), Dahlstrøm (swe 2), Kristiansen (swe 1), Martinsen (Del), Frøshaug (Nor 1) and Olden (Nor 1).

What worries me most is the lack of young and skilled centers. Most of our centers are old (Hansen, Bastiansen, Ask, Vikingstad etc) Thoresen is best as a LW, Mathis Olimb isnt good enough in deffense and Forsberg dosent score. So while everyone talks about Zuke and Thoresen, im more concerned about the fact that all our best centers are in their early-mid 30s. Every team needs skilled two way centers, that can bring the puck out of the zone.

Its very optimistic to think they will all be quality players until 35 of age. Some will decline or be injured. But you are right that it's not a catastrophic decline that will happen in the next couple of years, but your superpeak will fade out.
But great observation about the center problem. Thoresen is good as center as well, so its 5 best centers getting old!).

We have a very good generation of players right now. And when Zuccarello and Thoresen retires there aren’t any other to step up on the same level as them. Not for now there aren’t , but I hope if Norway still can produce and export players to Swedish SEL the National team still can stay up in the elite championships at least.

Zucca and Thoresen where never drafted but still got a shot in the NHL, hoping for some more of that.

Mats Rosselli Olsen (Born 1991, plays for Frølunda swe 1). A very fast and good skater. Needs to work on scoring.

Andreas Martinsen (born 1990, plays for Dusseldorf DEL). A big grinder. Can score alot of garbage goals.

Tommy Kristiansen (born 1989, plays for HV71 Swe 1). Same as Martinsen.

Ken Andre Olimb (born 1989, plays for Bofors Swe 2) Just as skilled as his older brother Mathis. Scored 3 goals for Norway in iihf whc 2012. Small, skilled and a good sniper. Only problem is his size and he isnt rly strong along the boards.

There are also others like Olden, Dahlstrøm, Søberg, Czisar etc.

But none of these guys really scream NHL material,if you guys want to be competitve you will need to produce NHL forwards in the next 10-12 years.

Well Hansen, Skrøder, Vikingstad, Trygg, Ask and Bastiansen are just gettin better and better ;) I think Mathis Olimb and Ken Andre Olimb will step up and do a great job on the first line. They got good hands just like shampo. U can teach a player alot (blocking shots, positioning, skating) but not good hands, vision etc.

And yeah ofc some might retire cause of injuries, but remember one thing. Most of our players are small. Thats a great thing rly. Its easier to stay in shape in ur mid 30s if ur small. They also play in a less physical league and therefore their careers might last longer.

Older yet still better ;) (well you could argue that some of them have peaked but are still doing very well).
Anyways Norway doesn't need to send players to NHL if they can go to SEL or KHL. It will make their WC team better and increase chances for direct Olympic Qualification as this time. Being in SEL and KHL will make you survive longer as a player instead of being hammered in NHL.

Damien Brunner didnt scream NHL material when he was around 20 years old. Its impossible to say how good or bad these guys are gonna be in the coming years. And even if they are not good enough for the NHL, so what? Big grinders are always usefull on the 3-4 line, pp (infront of the net) and pk (blocking shots, reach). And Rosselli Olsen is a fantastic skater. Lets say he wont be a great goal scorer. Well he can still be a great third liner. Fast skating = checking line. Its about the whole team. U wont stand a chance if u only got one good line like NYR with Gaborik, Richards and Nash.

So imo its all about the whole team and not one or two individuals.

It`s a legit argument,but still,norway,i think needs atleast a few NHL top-6 players to be regulars in 1/4 at WC same goes for Latvia and Denmark(well you have Boedker who is kind of top6)

well if they play Stanley Cup you wont get them....that means the team will have years were they slump and that affects the ranking for OG.

We have two forward line and our best d-man missing from our roster.....if Norway had to play qualification they would miss none!
Norway can have a shot of QF each WC because of this and stay high on the ranking.

Wut? More like round 5-7

The norwegian master plan :D

Yeah well we discussed this NHL hockey imperialism,but still if those players can be on your roster its a huge boost so its kind of a double edged sword.
Fortunatley for Latvia even if we had like 3-4 good players in NHL we still would have plenty of quality players in KHL to choose from,so what i`m trying to say is depth is a very important thing!