How Sweden continues to develop great NHLers

Former Swedish professional hockey player and head of sports media for Better Collective Uffe Bodin, joined Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen on "Daily Faceoff Live" from Sweden to discuss the impact of Swedish players in the NHL and how Sweden continues to develop such great players.

Uffe also weighs in on how the SHL has become the second-best league in the world and how that has contributed to the development of Swedish players coming over to North America and finding success. With Vancouver Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson leading the charge in the NHL with 27 points, it further alludes to Uffe’s point about the two-way development in the SHL and how lethal that has become.

Colby Cohen: I want to talk about Swedish hockey in general; what is it about Swedish players at a young age that when they come over to North America these guys are ready? They are 200-foot players, they are complete, physical, and detailed, all of it. Coaches generally love their Swedish players. Any team I was on, the Swedes were the favorite players among the coaches. What is it about the development over there that sends them across the pond and has success? 

Uffe Bodin: I think most of it is about how the two-way game is very important here. The Swedish leagues have had a bad reputation for being defensive-minded, and not letting players break out and be great players but I think it’s also good that it teaches us at a young age you have to take responsibility. I think that’s very appealing to even North American coaches. I think also a lot of young players are getting a shot at playing in the men’s leagues and they get to mature very fast. Now that the KHL is blocked out, the SHL is probably the second-best league in the world right now. You’re getting great development by playing there.

You can watch the full segment with Uffe here…