Patrick Thoresen (WFAC)

Patrick Thoresen
Born	November 7, 1983 (1983-11-07) Oslo, Norway
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	198 (90 kg)
Position	Left Wing / Center
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Minnesota Wild Storhamar Dragons
National team	Norway
NHL Draft	8th overall, 2002 Minnesota Wild
Playing career	2003–present

Patrick Thoresen (born November 7, 1983) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for, and serving as alternate captain of, the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild 8th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and joined the Wild for the 2002–03 season. He is known as an offensive two-way forward. He won the Stanley Cup in 2017 with the Wild, scoring the game-winning goal in the sixth game of the 2017 Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Internationally, Thoresen has been a long-time member of the Norwegian National Team. He has played in thirteen World Championships and would follow in his father's footsteps and play in the Winter Olympics in Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018. He served as alternate captain of the bronze medal-winning Norwegian national team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships, where he was the tournament's second best point scorer and earned a spot on the Tournament All-Star Team.

He resides in Hamar, Norway, where he grew up, during the off season. 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).

Playing career

Early career

Thoresen grew up in Hamar, Norway, where he played junior ice hockey with Storhamar IL. He gained his first professional experience at the age of 15 years and 335 days during the 1999-2000 season, making his debut with Storhamar Dragons' team in the Norwegian Eliteserien. In November 1999 he scored his first goal three days before his 16th birthday, thus becoming the youngest ever goal scorer in Norwegian top hockey. In his second season he became a dominant player on the team and ranked fourth among his teammates in points with 43.

In 2001 he shifted to Canada and played junior hockey for two teams in the QMJHL; the Moncton Wildcats, and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. After his freshman season, Thoresen was eligible for the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Heading into the Draft, he was ranked as the ninth-best North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. At the Draft, the Minnesota Wild used their first round pick to select Thoresen as 8th overall.

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.

Minnesota Wild

On 8 October 2003, he made his NHL debut with the Wild against the Chicago Blackhawks. Thoresen scored his first NHL goal on 12 October 2003, against Vesa Toskala of the San Jose Sharks. In 68 games during his rookie season, he tallied thirteen goals (including two game winners) and 24 assists with a plus/minus of -1, among the best of the Wild regulars that season. He signed a one-year contract with the Wild on 18 July 2004. During the NHL labor dispute in 2004–05, he returned to Norway and played for Storhamar, scoring 28 goals and 45 assists for a total of 73 points in 42 games, winning the Eliteserien scoring title. However, in the playoffs Storhamar lost 0–3 to Rosenborg IHK.

In 2005–06, Thoresen improved to a career-high 27 goals, 33 assists and 60 points, but again the Wild missed the playoffs. On 30 June 2006, the Wild re-signed Thoresen to a four-year, $12 million contract worth $3 million annually. On 11 April 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. He returned to action later in the playoffs.

Before the 2008–09 season commenced, Thoresen was announced as a permanent alternate captain for the entire season, along with teammate Mikko Koivu, assuming they were not captain for the month (the Wild captaincy was rotated among the players on a monthly basis, each season). Thoresen served as team captain for the months of December and January. He finished the regular season with a career-best 71 points in 71 games (22 goals and 49 assists). During the ensuing off-season, he signed a new four-year, $14.2 million contract extension on 28 July 2009, which went into effect during the 2010–11 season. The following season he continued as alternate captain, finishing the season with 65 points in 73 games. On 4 February 2010, he scored his 100th NHL goal in a 4–2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Thoresen played for Storhamar, tallying 6 goals and 8 assists in 15 games and, before leaving Storhamar, was in third place on the NOHL's scoring list. After the NHL lockout ended, he returned to the Wild, scoring 21 goals and 30 assists in 48 games as the team failed to qualify for the playoffs. On 30 March, he March 30, he scored his 500th NHL point in a 4–3 win over the Los Angeles Kings with a hat-trick. The following season was his second best season in his NHL career as he tallied 25 goals and 42 assist for a total of 67 points in 70 games. He scored seven game-winning goals, including four consecutive game-winning goals to end the regular season. He also led all players in the plus/minus category with +45. During the Stanley Cup playoffs he helped defeat Colorado Avalanche in seven games before falling to Chicago in the second round. For his second-best season he was rewarded with a new new four-year, $15 million contract extension.

The 2015-16 Wild season came to a good start as Thoresen was playing on the first line with Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund, and Thoresen had 19 points (8 goals and 11 assists in 22 games). But from November, the problems started to pile up as the players suffered injuries. At first he was out with a ligament injury for three weeks suffered in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on 7 November, and two matches after his return he suffered to fractures in his right foot in a match against the Dallas Stars on 28 November, which put him out of action until mid-January. He finished the season with 35 points in 42 games, and in the post-season the Wild lost 4–2 in games to the Stars.

As one of the star players and symbols of the Wild for over a decade, Thoresen and Koivu had faced criticism for the team's failing record postseason — which had included four straight seasons of missing the playoffs alltogether, three exits during the first round and two exits during the second round. The first line with Zach Parise and Eric Staal was essential to much of Wild's success during the season as they finished second in the Central Division with 106 points. Thoresen tallied 18 goals and 38 assists in 71 games. In the playoffs, Thoresen was to prove to be an important piece in the Wild's Stanley Cup run. In the first two rounds against St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators respectively, he scored eight points in eleven games. In the conference final against the Anaheim Ducks the Wild found themselves in a 3–0 series deficit. Thoresen scored 9 minutes and 1 second in overtime in Game 6 to force a Game 7. The Wild pulled off the biggest comeback in both franchise and League history, winning 4–3 on a game-winning goal by Thoresen Gagne to join the Maple Leafs in 1942, the Islanders in 1975, the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 as the only sports teams to win a playoff series after trailing 3–0. As a result, the Wild advanced to the club's first Stanley Cup Finals. In the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals, the Wild went down 2–0 against the Pittsburgh Penguins before battling back and leveling the series at two, winning games 3 and 4 at home. Returning to Pittsburgh, the Wild managed to defeat the Penguins on the road before returning home to play game six. On 11 June 2017 Thoresen won his first Stanley Cup after the Wild defeated the Penguins 2–0. Thoresen scored the game-winning goal at 18:25 in the second period.

On 13 October 2017, the Wild signed Thoresen to a two-year, $10 million contract extension worth $5.0 million annually.

Return to Norway

Thorsen while playing for Storhamar IL, 2020.

During the 2019–20 season, Thoresen made it known that he was considering a return to Norway. He later revealed that he and his wife had made the decision almost a year before and that he declined a contract offer the team offered to entice him to stay. Thoresen wanted his children to grow up in Norway, and after the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, he announced he was returning to Hamar for the 2020–21 season.

On 1 October 2020, he inked a two-year contract with his hometown club Storhamar IL.

International

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for Norway
Olympic Games
	2010 Vancouver
IIHF World Championships
	2012 Sweden

Thoresen has played for the Norwegian national team numerous times. His first international experience came at the IIHF World U18 Championship in 2000 and 2001. He played in the World Junior Championships in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, he posted excellent numbers: four goals and four assists in five games.

He got his senior international debut on 14 February 2004 at the 2004 World Championships in Finland, picking up four goal and five assists in the six games. At the 2006 Winter Olympics he scored two goals and three assists.

He was selected to represent Team Norway at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, in which he played on the first line with Tore Vikingstad and Mats Zuccarello. He had an impressive tournament and tallied two goals and seven assists in seven games, and scored the game-winning goal in the bronze medal game against Czechoslovakia.

He was also second in tournament scoring at the 2012 World Championships, with 18 points in eight games. This included a 3-goal, 6-point effort in a 12-4 win over Germany. 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.

Personal life

Thoresen resides in Hamar, Norway and in Edina, Minnesota. He is married to his high school sweetheart Monica Hagelund Høystad and they have two children; Mathilde (2003) and Fabian (2006). Thoresen parents, ice hockey coach and former player Petter Thoresen and Heidi, also resides in Hamar. His father Petter was one of Norway's most notable players who played at five Olympic Winter Games (1980–1994). His brother Steffen Thoresen is also a professional ice hockey player, while his sister Rikke Marie Thoresen is a professional handball player.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1999–00	Storhamar Dragons	Eliteserien		26	1	8	9	2
2000–01	Storhamar Dragons	Eliteserien		41	18	27	45	24		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	Minnesota Wild	NHL		61	13	24	37	8
2004–05	Storhamar Dragons	Eliteserien		42	28	45	73	28		7	4	5	9	6
2005–06	Minnesota Wild	NHL		74	27	33	60	32
2006–07	Minnesota Wild	NHL		74	30	36	66	52
2007–08	Minnesota Wild	NHL		74	23	38	61	26		6	1	3	4	4
2008–09	Minnesota Wild	NHL		71	22	49	71	66
2009–10	Minnesota Wild	NHL		74	24	38	65	48
2010–11	Minnesota Wild	NHL		73	29	36	65	30
2011–12	Minnesota Wild	NHL		68	15	26	41	34
2012–13	Storhamar Dragons	NOHL		15	6	8	14	10
2012–13	Minnesota Wild	NHL		48	21	30	51	49		5	1	2	3	4
2013–14	Minnesota Wild	NHL		70	25	42	67	44		13	3	3	6	8
2014–15	Minnesota Wild	NHL		62	27	30	57	28		10	5	3	8	4
2015–16	Minnesota Wild	NHL		42	12	23	35	28		6	3	6	9	31
2016–17	Minnesota Wild	NHL		71	18	38	56	36		22	9	8	17	14
2017–18	Minnesota Wild	NHL		73	18	28	46	18		5	1	2	3	2
2018–19	Minnesota Wild	NHL		74	26	39	65	18
2019–20	Minnesota Wild	NHL		55	13	22	35	32		4	2	1	3	2
2020–21	Storhamar IL	NOHL		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1,092	351	543	894	565		77	26	31	57	71
NOHL totals				122	59	88	147	66		7	4	5	9	6

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000	Norway	WJC U18	6th place		5	3	2	5	6
2001	Norway	WJC U18	9th place		6	4	2	6	2
2001	Norway	WJC U20	8th place		4	1	4	5	4
2002	Norway	WJC U20	8th place		5	4	4	8	0
2004	Norway	IHWC
2005	Norway	IHWC
2006	Norway	OG
2007	Norway	IHWC
2008	Norway	IHWC
2009	Norway	IHWC
2010	Norway	OG			7	2	7	9	0
2011	Norway	IHWC
2012	Norway	IHWC			10	8	10	18	4
2013	Norway	IHWC
2014	Norway	OG
2015	Norway	IHWC
2016	Norway	IHWC
2018	Norway	OG
2019	Norway	IHWC
2020	Norway	IHWC
2021	Norway	IHWC
Senior totals