Zuccarello and Thoresen will raise Norway in the World Cup – these qualities contribute the most

Sport: National team coach Tobias Johansson says that two characteristics of the veterans stand out.

– One is their skill with the puck. The analyzes from the previous World Cup showed that we missed the kind of offensive forward skills that they bring. They play quickly and with quality, and not least is their experience. They have experience that they can help the younger players with. I believe that both skill and experience can give confidence to the other players, says national team coach Tobias Johansson to NTB.

The two veterans have 95 (Thoresen) and 42 (Zuccarello) official Olympic and World Cup matches.

This year’s World Cup squad was presented in Oslo on Monday, and several of the players in the Norwegian team took part in the U20 World Cup around New Year: Noah Steen, Petter Vesterheim, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Eskild Bakke Olsen.

Norway showed in the previous World Cup in Latvia that there is great potential for improvement when it comes to the outnumbered game. With Zuccarello and Thoresen in the team, the national team coach hopes that the result will improve considerably.

The figures showed that the Norwegian players managed to stop 101 shots from the opponents during the seven games. On the offensive side, the shooting was too poor, and as many as 90 shots from the Norwegian players were blocked before the puck reached the goalkeeper.

– They are young, but above all good. That’s why they’re in it. When talking about the generational change, the communication often revolves around the fact that we have to bring in young players. We select players who we believe are the best regardless of age. The aforementioned are young, but among the 14 best runners we have in the country, says the national team coach.

What Johansson was particularly pleased with during last year’s championship, where there were victories both over Slovenia (1-0) and over World Cup winners Canada (3-2), was the Norwegian game with fewer numbers, and how they managed to cover shots in their own zone.

(© NTB)