With a 5-2 win over Great Britain on Monday, it is now assured that Norway will stay in the top division of the IIHF World Championships for another year. Mats Zuccarello, Norway’s star player and currently its only full-time NHLer, continued to show his elite playmaking skills and contributed another assist – his sixth in five games.
“Obviously, it’s nice to get a good start in a big game like this,” said Zuccarello, referring to Norway’s 3-0 lead by the game’s 13-minute mark. “It could be really nerve-racking to play games like this but we got a good start and we just rolled from there.”
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What do you think of the way Patrick Thoresen stepped up today with a three-point game?
“I think it’s unbelievable. He’s been away for a long time and to be able to perform like that at the age of 40 is really amazing. I don’t know what more I can say about him.”
You assisted on another power-play goal today by Michael Brandsegg-Nygård. What’s it been like playing with him this tournament?
“Oh, he’s great. He’s got a really good shot and he’s still really young. It’s amazing to think his draft is still coming up. So he’s going to continue to mature and develop into a better player.”
Do you think that he will soon be joining you in the NHL?
“I hope so. Of course, he’s young and there’s no need to rush things. I don’t want to put any pressure on him. I think it’s important to let these young guys develop and have fun playing hockey. And hopefully, for their sake and for the sake of Norwegian hockey, we’ll have some guys in the NHL in the near future. We have a few guys who we hope are going to take big steps and be the future of Norewegian hockey. We need someone to take over for us old guys because we can’t play forever.”
Next year the World Championship will be in two neighboring countries: Sweden and Denmark. How important is it that Norway will be there?
“I think it’s important no matter where it is. We always want to stay up. As a nation, Norway is a small hockey country, so to be able to stay up is real important for us. To be able to stay up 19 years in a row is pretty special.”
What needs to happen in Norway to be challenging for the quarterfinals instead of fighting to avoid relegation?
“We need more rinks. We need to spread the hockey out over the whole country – we can’t just have rinks in one part of the country. There are too few ice sheets – we need more. It’s time for the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association to step up and make that happen.”