Catching up with Philip Larsen

Tuesday, July 14, 2009-7:33:pm
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page                            

Chances are Stars defenseman prospect Philip Larsen will play in Sweden this coming season. But chances are good that one day he'll make it to the NHL and when he does he'll be making history of sorts.

Only a small number of Danish players have ever played in the NHL. Through last season only four Danish born and raised players have played in the NHL and all of them have been forwards. Larsen has a chance to become the first defenseman among this recent wave of Danes.

Those four Danish forwards who have preceded who have made it to the NHL just recently, a sign of how far hockey has come in Denmark. It's something Larsen takes pride in, along with Denmark's improvement in international play.

"I am really proud to be a part of that," Larsen said. "Five or six years ago we made the 'A' pool [at the World Championship], and we've been staying there for five years now. Every guy on the team is getting better every year.

"The league is getting better back in Denmark. It's getting more professional back home too. As long as they keep doing it that way, where they want to get better, we are going to get better players every year. Hopefully we can another step even more in the future. I sure hope so."

Larsen and the Danes held on to their spot in the top pool and qualified for next year's World Championship by at this year's tournament. The highly skilled Larsen didn't pick up any points in the six games, but he did lead his team with an average of 25:08 of ice time and played in all key situations.

The 19-year-old, a fifth round pick (149th overall) in the 2008 draft, is expected to be at Stars' training camp in Frisco this September and will take his first shot at making the NHL.

"I am trying to get a spot here in Dallas and if I don't I will probably go back to Sweden," said Larsen, who was in Frisco last week for workouts with strength and conditioning coach J.J. McQueen.

So if there if he doesn't make the NHL Larsen will return to Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League, where he had two goals, 15 assists and a plus-eight rating in 53 games last season.

"I think it was pretty good," Larsen said of Frolunda's season. "We had a good team. We made the semifinals and played a pretty good series there. With a little bit of luck we could have gone to the finals and had a good series there. It ended, but overall it was a good season."

He'll play again under former Stars player and former Stars assistant coach Ulf Dahlen, who went through his first season as head coach with Frolunda in 2008-09.

"He's a really good coach. Fun guy, good guy," said Larsen. "He's really professional. He uses a lot of things from over here. I think he did a really good job last year and I think he'll continue to do a really good job next year. I like him as a coach."

Larsen said Dahlen's helped him as he develops as a player. Asked what he needs to work on, the young defenseman said he wants to continue to improve in all areas.

"A little bit of everything. Be better overall - offense, power play, defense," said Larsen. "I am just trying to get better at everything and see how far I can go."

And the belief is that one day he'll join that small group of players from Denmark who have made it to play in the National Hockey League.

Danes in the NHL

Here's the list of players from Denmark who have made it to the NHL in recent years.

If Philip Larsen does make it to the NHL, he won't be the first Danish born defenseman to do so. There was a fifth Dane to play in the NHL and that was defenseman Poul Popiel, who played in the NHL back in the 1960's and 1970's. While born in Denmark, Popiel moved to Canada at a young age.