Patrick Thoresen: KHL’s finest from Norway
KHL.ru continues to tell the stories of those who became league’s legends. Today the talk is about Patrick Thoresen. The Norway-born forward won two Gagarin Cups with two different teams.
Spartak was the first team in the KHL to take notice of Patrick Thoresen. In February 2009, the club’s general manager, Andrei Yakovenko, traveled to Oslo during the qualification tournament for the Vancouver Olympics. Yakovenko successfully initiated the first round of negotiations with the Norwegian player, considering him as a potential center forward to form a unit with Branko Radivojevic and Stefan Ruzicka, both from Slovakia. However, as often happens, wealthier competitors learned of the club’s plans. This led to Thoresen ultimately joining Salavat Yulaev. Nonetheless, Spartak managed to resolve the situation by signing Martin Cibak. The Slovakian trio became one of the most prominent phenomena in the club’s history over the last three decades.
Norway is a northern country, but despite that, it’s not a hockey nation. For instance, not long ago, the world was shocked by the news that the national hockey team had been disbanded due to financial losses, at least until the end of 2023. It’s possible to count the renowned Norwegian hockey players on the fingers of one hand. The national championship is essentially amateur, with people working during the day and playing hockey in the evenings. Any talented players typically head to Europe, primarily Sweden, or North America. Patrick chose the latter option and moved across the ocean at the age of 17.
Thoresen spent two seasons in one of Canada’s junior leagues. However, like most Europeans, he didn’t make it to the NHL. He went to Sweden and began representing the national team, where he played remarkably. In 2004, at Thoresen’s debut senior World Championship, Norway couldn’t escape relegation to the first division, but they returned a year later. In 2006, Patrick scored two goals in the top division. Despite going through all stages of hockey development in the Old World, he couldn’t secure a consistent spot in the NHL. In 2008, he returned to Europe for good.
In Lugano, Thoresen shone, amassing 63 points (22+41) in 48 matches. Only the Finland’s Kimmo Rintanen from Kloten and the Slovakia’s Juraj Kolnik from Servette scored more. In three games during the Olympic qualification tournament, the forward scored 6 (4+2) points and helped the national team secure a spot in the Vancouver Games. The 2008-2009 season was the best in Thoresen’s career up to that point. It’s no coincidence that it was during that time that he attracted the attention of KHL clubs, not only Spartak and Salavat but also SKA and Dynamo Moscow.
“In recent years, it hurt when some analysts and scouts said, ‘Patrick Thoresen is a good player for a secondary league, but he will never become a star in the top ones.’ I really wanted to prove the skeptics wrong and show myself that I could stand alongside the top European superstars. And what league in the Old World is stronger than the KHL?” the hockey player said in an interview with Sport-Express.
Patrick Thoresen
417 games, 382 (149+233) points
Gagarin Cup winner (2011, 2015).
KHL top plus-minus differential (2010).
Norway player of the year (2012, 2015).
KHL All-Star Game participant (2010, 2011).
Norway’s all-time KHL top scorer.
21.05.2009 signs a contract with Salavat Yulaev.
30.10.2010 first appearance at the KHL All-Star Game.
20.05.2010 awarded for the best KHL plus-minus differential.
16.04.2011 wins the Gagarin Cup with Salavat Yulaev.
In 2009, the defending champions, Salavat Yulaev, suffered from a first-round exit. The club’s management, aiming to replicate the success of the 2007-2008 season, significantly strengthened the roster by bringing in players such as Dmitry Kalinin (Phoenix), Viktor Kozlov (Washington), Sergei Zinovyev (Dynamo), and Thoresen. Initially, the three newly signed forwards, Thoresen, Zinovyev, and Kozlov, played on the same line. However, a combination was later formed, which became one of the best in KHL history, with Thoresen, Igor Grigorenko, and Alexander Radulov.
Thoresen played effectively right from the start, with Vityaz being his favorite target. In his debut season in the KHL, the Norwegian scored two hat-tricks, both in matches against the Moscow Region team. On Oct 21, Thoresen netted three goals in a home game (6:1), and on Jan 5, he did the same in an away game (5:1).
The pinnacle of the season for Salavat Yulaev and Thoresen came in the Gagarin Cup semifinals, when they faced Ak Bars. In the first game, on home ice, Salavat lost 3:4, and Thoresen elbowed Ak Bars’ captain, Alexei Morozov, in the head. The future president of the KHL left the ice only with outside assistance.
“You all saw it yourselves. I took the puck, carried it out of the zone, and a player came from the side and struck me. Was it intentional? I don’t know. Ask him. For me, the fact remains that a rule violation occurred,” Morozov said commenting the episode.
Due to the consequent suspension, Thoresen missed the second game of the series. Without one of their leaders, Salavat once again suffered a defeat. It was extremely difficult to come back from 0-2 against that Ak Bars. No miracle occurred, and the team coached by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov advanced to the finals, winning their second consecutive Gagarin Cup.
In his second season in the KHL, Thoresen played even more productively, accumulating 66 points compared to 57 in his first season, securing second place in the top scorers’ race in the regular season, just behind Radulov. He also scored 18 points in the playoffs, compared to 14 previously. Thoresen recorded two more hat-tricks, one on Oct 5 against Avtomobilist and another on Oct 20 with Lokomotiv being the victim. The line of Thoresen, Grigorenko, and Radulov was even more effective. Together, they amassed 186 points in the regular season and 51 in the playoffs, as opposed to 156 and 42 points in the previous year. As a result, Salavat Yulaev won the Gagarin Cup.
St. Petersburg instead of the NHL
Thoresen’s contract with Salavat was initially set for two seasons. However, discussions about the possibility of the Norwegian returning to the NHL were ongoing in both 2010 and, more notably, in 2011. Nevertheless, the forward never made it across the ocean, opting instead to sing on the shores of the Neva river.
Each year, SKA set the goal of winning the Gagarin Cup, but the team constantly seemed to lack something. Initially, the addition of Thoresen didn’t change the situation, even though he was at the peak of his career. Patrick not only played exceptionally well for Salavat but also shone on the international stage. In 2012, he accumulated 18 (7+11) points in 8 games at the World Championship, ranking second behind only Evgeny Malkin, who scored one more point but played in 10 games. It was Thoresen’s top performance with Team Norway.
However, SKA couldn’t benefit from Thoresen’s talents for quite some time. In 2012 and 2013, the St. Petersburg side was eliminated in the semifinals. Afterward, the club signed Ilya Kovalchuk. But in 2014, they were eliminated even earlier, in the quarterfinals. The championship-winning team in St. Petersburg only came together in the spring of 2015 when SKA finally lifted the Gagarin Cup.
After winning his second Gagarin Cup, Thoresen left for the more familiar territory of Djurgarden, in Sweden. In 2016, he moved to Zurich, and just a year later, he returned to where it all began – Storhamar, donning the same jersey he wore 16 years prior. However, Thoresen didn’t stay in Norway for long. In October, talks began about his return to SKA, which eventually happened the following month. Patrick stated he was going for the Gagarin Cup, but that year it eluded him and his team in St. Petersburg.
After the season concluded, Thoresen once again returned to his homeland. He now serves as the captain of Storhamar. The upcoming season will mark his sixth consecutive season with the team. Ironically, the last time the club won the Norwegian championship was when Patrick left for SKA, and things took a downturn afterward. Perhaps, in the new season, Thoresen and Storhamar will find the luck they need, and the two-time Gagarin Cup winner will celebrate his 40th birthday with a victory?
03.06.2011 Move to SKA.
03.06.2012 Nominated in the IIHF WC All-Star Team.
07.04.2015 Scores the game-winner in game seven of the Western Conference’s finals, marking the first time in the league’s history that a team had a comeback from a 0-3 situation.
19.04.2015 Gagarin Cup triumph with SKA.
Dossier
Patrick Thoresen
Born Nov 7, 1983, in Oslo (Norway).
Playing career: 1999-2001, 2017-today: Storhamar, Norway; 2001-2002, Moncton, Canada; 2002-2003, Baie-Comeau, Canada; 2003-2004, Morrums, Sweden; 2003-2006, 2015-2016, Djurgarden, Sweden; 2005-2006, Salzburg, Austria; 2006-2008, Edmonton; 2006-2007, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, USA; 2007-2008, Philadelphia, USA; 2007-2008, Springfield, USA; 2009-2009, HC Lugano, Switzerland; 2009-2011, Salavat Yulaev, Russia; 2011-2015, 2017-2018, SKA; 2016-2017, ZSC Zurich.
Honors: Norway champion (2000), Gagarin Cup winner (2011, 2015), Russian champion (2011).
