Patrick Bjorkstrand Explained

Patrick Bjorkstrand
Birth Date:1 July 1992
Birth Place:Herning, Denmark
Height Ft:6
Height In:0
Weight Lb:192
Position:Forward
Shoots:Left
League:Metal
Team:Aalborg Pirates
Former Teams:Herning Blue Fox
Medveščak Zagreb
SaiPa
Ontario Reign
KooKoo
Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers
TPS
EC VSV
Ntl Team:Denmark
Career Start:2009
Draft:Undrafted

Patrick Bjorkstrand (born 1 July 1992) is a Danish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Aalborg Pirates of the Metal Ligaen (DEN). He formerly played with the Ontario Reign of the AHL while under contract to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He is the son of hockey coach Todd Bjorkstrand and the older brother of Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Playing career

Bjorkstrand made his first steps at the senior level in his native Denmark with Herning Blue Fox of the Metal Ligaen. He won the Danish national championship with Herning in 2011 and 2012. He spent the 2012–13 campaign with Mora IK of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan. From 2013 to 2016, Bjorkstrand played for Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL),[1] interrupted by a Finland stint with SaiPa in the course of the 2014–15 season.[2]

On 14 July 2016 he signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent the season with the Kings' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Ontario Reign.[3] After the season Bjorkstrand returned to Finland and signed with KooKoo of Liiga on 3 August 2017.[4] He left Finland in February 2018 to head to Germany, where he signed with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL.[5]

In the off-season, Bjorkstrand returned for a third stint in the Finnish Liiga, agreeing as a free agent to a one-year contract with HC TPS on 5 June 2018.[6] He contributed with his two-way play, recording 10 goals and 20 points in 59 games in the 2018–19 season.

On 5 June 2019 Bjorkstrand left the Liiga as a free agent, signing an initial one-year contract with Austrian club, EC Panaceo VSV, of the EBEL.[7]

International play

Bjorkstrand competed in the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Denmark men's national ice hockey team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2009–10Herning Blue FoxDEN3245920101120
2010–11Herning Blue FoxDEN3831720161428100
2011–12Herning Blue FoxDEN36925343017381110
2012–13Mora IKAllsv51671312
2013–14Medveščak ZagrebKHL5449131440000
2014–15Medveščak ZagrebKHL5578152
2014–15SaiPaLiiga11202071232
2015–16Medveščak ZagrebKHL571392212
2016–17Ontario ReignAHL4284121020000
2017–18KooKooLiiga5214233724
2017–18Thomas Sabo Ice TigersDEL3022091120
2018–19TPSLiiga591010201451120
2019–20EC VSVEBEL461520351030000
2020–21EC VSVICEHL23371010
2021–22Aalborg PiratesDEN4017274420103252
KHL totals1662426502840000
Liiga totals12226335938122352

International

YearTeamEventGPGAPtsPIM
2009DenmarkU18-D152350
2010DenmarkU18-D152462
2010DenmarkWJC-D153252
2011DenmarkWJC-D153472
2012DenmarkWJC61564
2013DenmarkOGQ30000
2013DenmarkWC70002
2014DenmarkWC71342
2015DenmarkWC71012
2016DenmarkWC80114
2022DenmarkWC71010
Junior totals 2611182910
Senior totals 3934710

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Young forwards Patrick Bjorkstrand and Luke Walker join the Bears. Medveščak Zagreb. 2013-06-24. 2013-06-24. Croatian.
  2. Web site: Bjorkstrand završava sezonu u finskoj SaiPi. www.medvescak.com. 2016-07-14.
  3. Web site: Kings sign Patrick Bjorkstrand to one-year ELC. LA Kings Insider. 2016-07-14.
  4. Web site: KooKoo vahvistuu Tanskan maajoukkuehyökkääjällä - Bjorkstrand matkaa Kouvolaan. www.jatkoaika.com. August 29, 2017. fi-FI. August 3, 2017.
  5. Web site: Ice Tigers verpflichten Patrick Bjorkstrand Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg. www.icetigers.de. de. 2018-02-21.
  6. Web site: HC TPS strengthens with Patrick Bjorkstrand . . 2018-06-05 . 2018-06-05 . Finnish.
  7. Web site: EC Panaceo VSV land transfer coup . . June 5, 2019 . June 5, 2019 . Russian.