From: etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se (Staffan Axelsson)
Subject: Re: Jarmo Myllys & European Goalies
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 15:22:19 GMT

(Matt Brown) writes:
>(Staffan Axelsson) writes:
>
>There have been a good number of European goaltenders that have started
>for NHL/WHA teams, starting (I believe) with the WHA Whalers back in the
>70's (Abramsson? I'll have to look it up at home). Almost every team has
       ^^^^^^^^^^
Christer Abrahamsson. He played for the WHA Whalers from 1974 to 1977.
Christer is now the coach for Rogle in the Swedish elite league.
His twin brother, Tommy, also played there (defenseman) from '74 to '77.

>   easy work. The stress of an 84 game season is harder on a goalie than
>   a skater, in my opinion, and playing half that in a familiar setting
>   must be much less stressful.

Sure, but for much less money (exception: the Swiss league). I'm positive
that many Swedish goalies' dream is to play in NHL and they would therefor
also play in the minor leagues if they had to (I've heard that Pelle Lindbergh
played three years in the minors before he was a starter for the Flyers). 

However, NHL scouts seem mainly to have been looking for (European) defensemen
/forwards and haven't noticed goalies unless they've done something really 
spectacular (e.g. Soderstrom at CC '91).

>>Also, the goalie's task is a bit different on small rinks, sometimes acting
>>like a third defenseman as opposed to the European goalie who is usually a 
>>bit more stationary. This has been an advantage for N American goalies over
>>European goalies since they're used to this from the minor leagues.
>
>This is a fascinating point. I had never noticed this before Staffan pointed
>it out, but looking back over the international games I have seen, and the 
>european goalies in the NHL, I recollect that in the international games,
>goalies are less likely to leave the goal area to stop a puck behind the
>net, and even less likely to go to the corner to play the puck. Now, with 
>a wider rink, this makes perfect sense.

Also consider that the international icing rule is used here (in Sweden at
least). This means that the goalie won't have to play the puck behind the
goal as often.

You also won't see as much dump-and-chase since the neutral zone is larger
giving the players more space and reason to pass/deke their way towards 
the goal.

>Is the (or was the) NHL style game harder to adjust to for goalies used to
>European hockey? 

I seem to recall an interview with Tommy Soderstrom prior to his departure to
Philadelphia where he said that he didn't think the adjustment to NHL 
hockey would be too hard.

I tend to think that European defensemen/forwards can have a harder time
adjusting to NHL hockey than European goalies.

>If so, is it the way offense is generated, or is it the
>defensive system? How big a factor is language? Goalies tend to give more
>verbal instruction or feedback to teammates during play. Is the language
>barrier bigger here than for a French Canadian goalie? Any thoughts?

The language is not too big of a factor for players from countries such as
Sweden, Finland etc since english is taught in the schools.

>
>Matt

Staffan
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 ((\\  //| Staffan Axelsson
  \\  //|| etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se
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