Patric Hörnqvist - a Stanley Cup Champion

At the halfway point of the 2015-16 NHL season, the Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves closer to the basement of the league than a playoff spot. Last night they defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 to win the Stanley Cup in six games. It's the fourth Stanley Cup in the team's history, and this season marked one of the truly amazing turnaround years for a team, it's really one for the ages.
  One of the players that stepped up big time for the Penguins was 29 year old forward Patric Hörnqvist who hails from Sollentuna, a suburb of Stockholm. I talked to Hornqvist after a game in late December after a shutout loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Penguins were really struggling at the time and even then when I talked to Hörnqvist after the game, he didn't think it was a big deal what place in the standings they were at the time since told me he knew that his team would pull it around. Needless to say he was right.
  Patric was one of the guys on the Penguins bench always talking and challenging other players, such as Sidney Crosby, to improve and do better in their team's games. Hornqvist scored 13 points in Pittsburgh's 24 playoff games, which included scoring the empty net goal last night that sealed the deal to win his first Stanley Cup. Prior to this season, Patric had never even been past the second round of the playoffs.
  It's been a crazy road for Patric to get to where he is today, winning a Stanley Cup. He was literally the last player picked at the 2005 NHL Draft (7th round/230th overall), while his linemate and 2016 Conn Smythe trophy winner Sidney Crosby was the first overall selection in that year's draft. Just being drafted was a great thing in itself for Patric as he was not even expecting to be selected. Hornqvist recalls, "My agent called me the night before and told me you're probably not going to get drafted so don't worry too much about it. The next morning I woke up and my dad came into my room saying that I got drafted by Nashville, and I got really happy and excited about that."
  Growing up in Sweden, most boys idolized the great Peter Forsberg, who was one of the NHL leading scorers over the 1990s and early 2000s. Patric was no different. "He was probably the best player on both sides of the puck. I really loved watching him play and I wish I could play like him!"
  Hornqvist started his career playing with Vasby IK before eventually moving onto the Djurgarden club in Stockholm. It was with Djurgarden that Patric first started getting noticed by North American scouts. "I played with Väsby (a suburb outside of Stockholm) in the third men's league in Sweden when I was fifteen," Patric said. "I didn't really want to go and play with the big junior teams in Sweden. I thought I'd stay in my hometown and play with the men's team instead. It worked out well for me I think. I know obviously there's a lot of different ways to develop and I think that was the best way for me."
  After Hörnqvist was drafted by Nashville, he spent the next few seasons continuing to develop as a hockey player with Djurgården of Swedish Elite League. For the 2008-09 season, Patric decided it was time to come across the pond and try his luck at making the NHL. He split that season between the Predators and their AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals. That first season would be the only time in his career that Patric would spend time in the minors.
  Hörnqvist recalls first coming to North America as a 21 year old, "It was a hard transition coming from Sweden. I played for my hometown my whole life, I never had to move away from my parents really. I would get an apartment to myself in Stockholm, but I was still pretty close to my family and friends. When I came to North America it was a big step, but it was fun, it was exciting, and tough in the same way. Obviously the game is way quicker here, smaller ice, and a more physical game. I think that's more of my style instead of holding onto the puck. I'm more of a straight guy, just going to the net and shooting a lot. I think that maybe the transition was a little easier for me than for other guys because of the style I play."
  During his tenure with the Predators, Patric was one of the team's key offensive contributors. He scored 216 points in 363 games over six years with Nashville, which you could definitely say is overachieving for a player that was drafted 230th overall back in 2005. On June 27th 2014, his time in Nashville came to an end as he, along with Nick Spaling, were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for James Neal. A new chapter had begun in Hörnqvist's career the day he was traded to Pittsburgh.
  Patric still has fond memories of his time in Nashville. "The friends I met in Nashville are very important to me," Hornqvist said. "There's a few guys there I hope to be good friends with for the rest of my life. I played with Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne for seven years so obviously we have a really good friendship, and I try and see them every summer. Hopefully that goes on even after I'm done playing hockey."
  Since coming to Pittsburgh for the 2014-15 season, Hörnqvist has been an offensive stalwart and a positive force on the team. He's scored over 50 points in both of the past two seasons in a Penguins uniform, and this playoff run the Penguins went this spring really showed everyone in the hockey world what kind of a hockey player Patric Hornqvist is.
  I remember asking Patric at the end of our interview what the best moment of his career is, and he smiled and said with a laugh, "hopefully it comes this year," meaning a Stanley Cup. It looks like he got his wish and will finally be bringing the Stanley Cup to Sollentuna this summer.
  Good on Patric, he's a class act and a heck of a hockey player to boot. It's guys like him that are the reason I write about hockey. Also, congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins on one heck of a run. I certainly did not pick them at the midway point of the season to pull off something like this, or even at the start of the playoffs when they went up against the New York Rangers. The Penguins silenced their critics and did something truly incredible, and for that I give kudos to them.

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