Two Norwegian goalies drafted

26 Jun 2011 | Henrik Lundqvist

Steffen Søberg was drafted by the Washington Capitals and Lars Volden by the Boston Bruins. They are the first two Norwegian goalies ever drafted in the NHL.

-hockey.no

As the first Norwegian goalkeeper to ever reach this accomplishment, 18-year-old Steffen Søberg was selected in the NHL Entry Draft yesterday by the Washington Capitals. Shortly after, Lars Volden was picked by the Boston Bruins to become the second.

It has for some time been speculated that Søberg would be picked by one of the teams in this weekend's draft. It turned out to be true. One of the best NHL teams in recent years, at least in the regular season, Washington used their fourth round pick to secure the rights to Søberg. He was picked number 117 overall.

"It will take time before I understand what has happened. It was a bit surprising", said Søberg to VG Nett, shortly after he learned that he had been drafted by the big club.

Søberg played for both the Norwegian U-18 and U-20 this season, and was also playing for Manglerud Star in GE-ligaen. There have been rumors that he is going to Färjestad in Swedish Elitserien for next season, but the draft may change those plans.

Lars Volden was ranked as the fifth-best European goalie by Central Scouting, and he was chosen by the 2011 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the sixth round 181st overall. He played last season in Finland with Espoo Blues.

Never before had a Norwegian goalkeeper been drafted and yesterday it happened twice in just a few minutes. The Norwegian goaltending situation, which hasn’t been good for a long time, may have a bright future.