Ice hockey also known as ishockey is a team sport played on ice skates and belongs to the family of sports called hockey. Ice hockey is a minor but extremely growing sport in Norway. They have a men’s, women’s, and junior nation team, and the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association governs the sport. It has been played in the country since the 1930s, and since then, they’ve also hosted several ice hockey matches in the Winter Olympics in 1952 and 1994.
The game has evolved from a niche game to a structured sport with several domestic competitive leagues—EliteHockey Ligaen is Norway’s top-tier men’s league with 10 teams. The top 8 teams compete in playoffs to decide the champion who then qualifies directly for the Champions Hockey League.
Similarly, for the women’s league, Bambusa-ligaen features 7 teams. The National Hockey League is one of the most significant leagues in the sport and only 8 Norwegian hockey players have made the cut to NHL. That said, let’s look at the top 3 greatest Norwegian ice hockey (ishockey) players of all time.
Mats Zuccarello: Mats Zuccarello is a professional ice hockey (ishockey) winger for the Minnesota Wild of the NHL. He began playing at the age of 5 and after he grew up, he was offered a scholarship at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport. He is considered the most accomplished NHL player in Norway for his contribution to the sport.
He represented the country at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics and competed in seven IIHF World Championship tournaments. He also bagged a silver medal in the World Cup of Hockey 2016. He’s the first Norwegian to reach finals in the Stanley Cup in 2014.
He was also awarded the Norwegian Player of the Year in 2010 and holds the Norwegian record for most NHL goals 114+, assists 241+, and more than 355 points. He won the Guldhjälmen (Golden Helmet) which was awarded to the most valuable player in the Swedish Hockey League in 2010.
Espen Knutsen: He is a former professional ice hockey player and current manager of Vålerenga in the GET-Ligaen. He’s known as one of the most hilarious nicknames “Shampoo” because his father is a hairdresser and a former hockey player whose nickname was “The Soap”.
He led Vålerenga to three consecutive Norwegian Championships from 1991 to 1994. He represented Norway in the 1994 Winter Olympics and was awarded the Norwegian Player of the Year in the same for his outstanding performance in both domestic and international leagues.
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He was one of the first players of Norway to enter the NHL where he led the team with 42 assists proving himself to be a valuable player during the season. After being active for 17 years in the sport, he retired in 2005 due to an injury. He was later appointed as the coach of his childhood club Vålerenga until he became the club’s General manager in 2016.
Patrick Thoresen: Patrick Thoresen is a left winger who is currently playing for Djirgårdens IF. His younger brother, Steffen, and his father, Petter are also ice hockey players, displaying a family legacy for the sport. He represented Norway in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics and also in the IIHF World Championships.
He had a successful career in the Kontinental Hockey League and won the Gagarin Cup twice in 2011 and 2015. He was also selected for the KHL All-Star Game in 2010 and 2011. He became Norway’s top scorer in the KHL with 66 points in a single season. He was honoured with the Norwegian Player of the Year award twice in 2012 and 2015.
He was also named one of the top three players on his team during the World Championships. He serves as the captain of the national team as of now. He indicated in one of his recent interviews that he plans to play one more season indicating that the current 2024-2025 might be his last.
