Larsen made a total of 2+4=6 score points in two games last week and in the match on Monday which ended the game week. He helped Jokerit to win three games which were against Neftehimik, Traktor, and Medvescak. In the last week’s opening match, Larsen scored during overtime. The defenceman’s scores in three matches were +4 and he fired 12 times towards the goal.

Larsen was chosen to be the best defenceman of the week in KHL also, in the beginning, November. Riku Helenius, Jesper B. Jensen, and Brandon Kozun were awarded again as the best of the week during this season.

Larsen made five points (4+1) in three matches and fired towards the goal up to 14 times. He wasn’t even once on the opponent’s ice when he scored and got the reading of +5 in his regular-season point stats for the week. He is the second best defenceman in Jokerit. He has achieved the points 2+12=14 for 21 matches.

KHL awards the best players of the week after every division. This season the acknowledgments have been received by the netminder Riku Helenius, defenceman Jesper B. Jensen and forward Brandon Kozun before Larsen in Jokerit.

During this season, Larsen played in Jugra Hanty-Mansijsk, whose matches ended during the regular season. Previously, the excellent skater and player received good feedback from Erik Karlsson and Linus Omark during his career in Sweden.

– I asked about the club, living and about overall life in Helsinki. They complimented Jokerit a lot. I wanted to play in a good league and Jokerit was the suitable option for me, Larsen said.

– The league’s style of playing and current members of Jokerit were the most important things to me. I like to be in contact with the puck and support the offense. That’s why it was important to find a league who played in such way, the Danish player continued.

Watch the video of Larsen’s whole interview.

Philip Larsen always knew what he wanted to do. Just ask his old homeroom teacher in Esbjerg.

– I didn’t need all those school classes, and I told my teacher that. Already in the sixth grade, I was burned out on school, and I wasn’t the best at sitting still. I wanted to be a professional hockey player. When I’m back in Esbjerg on vacation and run into my teacher, we joke about that. But already back then, I had established my life’s goal, he says.

After the ninth grade, the Esbjerg boy moved to Rögle, and made history when he debuted as Allsvenskan’s youngest player at the age of 15. The following year, he played in Frölunda, and then coach Per Bäckman had him debut in the Elite Series at the age of 17.

– I remember my first game in the Elite Series. It was in Jönköping. We beat HV 71 8-1. In the next, which was in Skellefteå, we also won 8-1. Could you ask for a better start? he laughs.

In his first year abroad in Rögle, he played with Oliver Lauridsen.

– Already then, he was a six-foot-six giant, and I was a little guy, weighing just over 130 pounds. We shared a big apartment. The following year, I came to Frölunda, and he went to Linköping. When we played against Norway, it was the first time in eight years, we were paired as defensemen, Philip Larsen says.

– Before the match, we joked with Per Bäckman, saying we were used to playing together.

Sporten.dk meets up with Philip Larsen, age 23, at the players’ hotel, Hotel Clarion, where you can see the gigantic dome of the Globe in the distance from the restaurant.

– It’s a wonderful, lively hotel. I like having a lot going on around me, and I might not have felt like that was happening at school, he says.

All Philip Larsen’s dreams have come true, and he is quickly nearing NHL match number 100 for the Dallas Stars.

He debuted in the world’s best league in the spring of 2010, and has impressed international experts with his unique speed, technique and understanding of the game. A smart and active offensive back radiating calm and confidence.

Philip Larsen was on the ice for almost 26 minutes against Slovenia, of which eleven minutes were in the third period, and his layup over the length of half the rink to Morten Green’s winning goal in overtime was a detail that will not soon be forgotten.

– I was totally spent. I didn’t have a whole lot left, he says, laughing.

Philip Larsen has had a great season in Dallas and has arrived in Stockholm in tip-top shape.

– The start was a little turbulent with a concussion in a crash with the gang in late January, but in the second half, I’ve found my game. It sucks missing a playoff. When you have fought and slogged away for months on end with your team, and you fail, you’re left with an empty feeling. That’s no fun. You’re irritated, and you promise yourself to give everything next season, so it won’t happen again, he says.

For Philip Larsen and the other Danish NHL players, the club comes first. Another thing they have in common, however, is the honor and pride of coming home to play for Denmark in the World Championship.

– It’s a great tradition in Denmark that people show up to play for their country. There’s great harmony and an amazing camaraderie on the national team. We also have an incredibly talented coach (Per Bäckman, ed.), who has all the guys behind him. It’s too bad he is stopping, he says.

This article originally appeared in the Danish tabloid newspaper BT:
http://www.bt.dk/ishockey/skoletraet-philip-larsen-naaede-sit-droemme-maal