7 fun facts about new Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin
History has been made… again.
Just days after the Vancouver Canucks made Émilie Castonguay the first female assistant general manager in club history, the team has now made Patrik Allvin the first Swedish GM in NHL history.
Suddenly, there’s an aura of positivity around this team.
That’s a far cry from where this organization was on the night of December 4 after a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was Allvin’s former team.
Think he could have predicted that, less than two months later, he’d be sitting in Jim Benning’s seat?
With Allvin now in charge, get to know the Canucks newest GM with these seven fun facts.
1. This is technically his second stint as an NHL GM
The ironic thing about Allvin fielding questions about being the first Swedish general manager in NHL history is that he answered these exact same questions before.
Allvin took over as interim GM of the Penguins when Jim Rutherford abruptly stepped down in January of last year.
The Penguins organization put Allvin in charge on an interim basis. That lasted for exactly two weeks, until Ron Hextall was hired.
Obviously, things are different for Allvin and his family this time. The safe bet is that he holds the title as Canucks GM for longer than two weeks.
"It's a big day for Swedish hockey and the European part of the game…obviously it is a big day for me, I'm truly honoured and proud to be the first one (Swedish General Manager of an NHL team)."
🗣️ General Manager Patrik Allvin pic.twitter.com/r7pl0DKCOa
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 26, 2022
2. Played pro hockey in four different countries
During his playing days, Allvin was a rugged, left-shot defenceman.
Although his talents weren’t enough to help him reach the NHL, he did embark on a hockey journey that took across four different continents.
Most of his hockey career was spent in Sweden, but Allvin did come over to North America for two seasons.
He played in the ECHL for two American teams (Nashville Knights, Pensacola Ice Pilots) and two IHL teams in both America and Canada (Atlanta Knights, Quebec Rafales).
Allvin also spent the majority of his 2000-01 season playing in Norway’s top hockey league for Sparta Sarpsborg.
3. Played alongside someone named Gretzky
No, not that Gretzky.
Allvin’s second and final season in North America was largely spent in the ECHL playing for the Ice Pilots.
A couple of players on that squad went on to play NHL games, including Harry York and Glen Metropolit.
However, the most recognizable name among his former teammates is Gretzky.
We’re talking about Brent Gretzky, the youngest of the three Gretzky brothers, who posted 24 points in 22 games as Allvin’s teammate in the ECHL.
Leave it to head coach Bruce Boudreau for the stories about Wayne Gretzky.
4. Once led his league in PIMs by a defenceman
Apparently, Allvin’s minor league experience in the ECHL toughened him up.
“It was hard to be a European down in the minors back then,” Allvin told Sportsnet.
The defencemen seemingly brought that edge back with him to Sweden.
During his first year back in Division 1 (which was Sweden’s second-tier league at the time), Allvin registered 139 penalty minutes in 28 games.
He was five PIMs off of the league leader, who did play four more games than Allvin.
The native of Falun, Sweden never surpassed 100 PIMs in his European hockey career again.
5. He’s the godfather for Johan Hedberg’s child
Allvin has close ties to former Canucks goaltender Johan Hedberg.
The two of them grew up together in Leksand, Sweden. He’s even the godfather to one of Hedberg’s children.
Allvin’s relationship with Hedberg led him to briefly meeting the Sedin twins back in 2003-04, when Hedberg was still with the Canucks organization.
6. Connection to Canucks goaltender Halak
The new Canucks GM is loosely connected to the club’s current backup goaltender.
Allvin’s playing career ended due to a knee injury at the age of 28. After that, advice from a friend in the New Jersey Devils organization convinced Allvin to give scouting a shot.
He was then hired later in 2002 as a European scout for the Montreal Canadiens.
During Allvin’s first draft in 2003 as part of the Habs organization, Montreal selected Slovakian goaltender Jaroslav Halak in the ninth round with their final selection.
7. “He works his tail off”
In this interview with NHL.com, Allvin jokingly said that he’s “seen most of the rinks in the world.”
Well, he’s not wrong about spending much of his adult life traveling around European and North American hockey rinks.
The 47-year-old’s nomadic lifestyle was backed up by Allvin’s former colleague, and current Minnesota Wild general manager, Bill Guerin.
“He works his tail off,” Guerin said in this interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You can’t substitute that.”
“He sacrificed a lot of time at home traveling the world. When he took over the director of amateur scouting, he did it for a year being in Europe. So he had about 15 or 20 trips overseas.
“He’s put in a lot of time and a lot of miles. It’s pretty incredible. You can’t substitute the hard work and the sacrifice that he’s had.”
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