Moving halfway across the world to a foreign country is a stressful situation, even for future NHL players.
European players looking to play in the best league in the world eventually have to make the leap across the pond to reach their ultimate goal. It's not easy, but following dreams rarely is.
Mikko Rantanen, Ivan Ivan, and Joel Kiviranta each made their way to the NHL in very different ways. They also each came to North America at very different stages of their lives and careers.
The 28-year-old Kiviranta has been in North America for about 5 years now. He was never drafted and really wasn't thinking about playing in the NHL. His breakout season in 2019 over in Finland, which included representing his country at the World Championships, changed that.
"That was the first time I had heard from any (NHL) team," he said. "I didn't even think about coming to North America because it was kind of late. After those World Championships, I got a couple contacts from here, and I was like 'Oh, it still might be possible.'"
Kiviranta eventually signed with Dallas and his transition to North American life was a little easier because of how many Finnish people were in their organization.
That wasn't the case for Rantanen.
Just months after the Avalanche drafted Rantanen with the 10th pick in the 2015 draft, the then 18-year-old packed his bags and moved to North America. He started the season in the NHL, but the plan all along was to keep him in the AHL so the organization wouldn't burn a year of his entry-level contract. The Avalanche didn't have any other Finns in the organization at the time of Rantanen's arrival.
That might have been for the best.
"I think that helped me get to know the culture more," Rantanen said. "I was forced to hang out with guys from different countries and my English got better. I think it was a good thing for me to not have any Finns, but nerve-wracking for sure."
Rantanen spent the majority of his first year in North America in the AHL for the San Antonio Rampage. His living arrangements were not exactly glamorous.
"We lived at the Staybridge Suites," he said. "That was right next to our practice rink in San Antonio. I didn't end up getting a place because we had World Juniors in Finland in December. We were not that great that year so our season ended in April, so I didn't want to get a place for three months."
He wasn't alone at the hotel, as a few other players on the team lived there, which helped the situation. Since he was playing pro in Finland, he had been training with a handful of players who had already played in North America. He picked their brain on what to expect overseas, but as none of them had lived in Colorado or Texas, it only helped so much.
To improve his English in preparation for life in a new country, he turned to American television. With the subtitles on, he started to pick up the language a little bit more. Curious minds want to know, though. What show did he watch the most to learn the language?
"Prison Break!" he exclaimed. "That was my favorite."
Ivan, a native of the Czech Republic, also had his favorites, as well as a different medium that helped him learn English.
"I watch Suits a lot. That was pretty good for my language," he said. "Video games too. When I was younger they were not in Czech yet, so when I played NHL, I had to get through the menu. I learned a couple words by that."
The decision to come overseas and play Major Junior was an easy one for Ivan. His dad played in the CHL and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. It didn't matter whether it was the OHL, WHL, or QMJHL, he knew what he wanted to do.
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That didn't mean he was prepared for what was to come.
"It's been a little tough," he said. "I was 16 when I moved to Canada. You don't see your close friends or family, so it kind of sucks from the other side."
No regrets, though.
"To chase my dream, I had to do it. I don't think I could have made it that far from Czech."
What I'm hearing
-- The Avalanche were hopeful that Josh Manson would be able to play on the road trip, but that didn't happen. Jonathan Drouin continues to skate back in Denver, but there's no timetable for him returning from whatever he's been dealing with all season.
-- It was a tough start to the season for Logan O'Connor, but while the points haven't exactly been rolling in, his coach thinks his game has significantly improved.
"I think he's playing much better now," Bednar said. "(O'Connor) is never going to cheat you on his work ethic, his competitiveness. Even at the start of the year when I thought he was struggling, it was more puck play. He wasn't recognizing when he had time. He even felt the same way just talking to him."
What I'm seeing
-- Jared Bednar has tried a lot of different line combinations this season, but it's surprising how little we've seen Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen play together. Granted, what little time they've spent together hasn't gone well, but it's a pretty small sample size. Last season, they were dominant on the ice together, controlling 60% of the shot attempts in the regular season. They were quite good together in the playoffs as well.
-- It would appear Keaton Middleton has jumped John Ludvig on the depth chart. Middleton has played in eight consecutive games while Ludvig has just been sitting in the press box.
Colorado's on-ice numbers aren't good with either on the ice, and are particularly poor with Middleton out there, but they seem to value the physical dimension he brings with no Manson around. I still expect the team to try and add a depth defenseman at the deadline to leapfrog both Middleton and Ludvig on the depth chart.
What I'm thinking
-- The Bills might be the best team in the NFL, but the Sabres might be the NHL's worst. At the time of this being published they have lost 12 straight games, including the debacle against the Avalanche a few weeks ago where they blew a 4-0 lead. Their owner and GM met with the team prior to their game against the Canadiens earlier this week, telling them no sweeping changes were going to be made.
The team responded by getting blown out...again. From top to bottom, the organization might just need to be blown up.
-- Speaking of disasters, how about those New York Rangers? They're plummeting down the standings and there are murmurs that none of the players are terribly happy with their GM, old friend Chris Drury. He's been pretty ruthless getting rid of a few veteran players and with some names leaking out to the media of who he might be looking to trade, the players seem to have had enough.
Things aren't much better for Patrick Roy on Long Island. That's just a team stuck in mud with no real direction. Not a great time to be a hockey fan in New York.