James Reason, CEO of TargetAid and Board member of Varmdo Hockey and I speak about youth and junior hockey in the Stockholm, Sweden Region and how it is a breading ground for top talent but also breadth.  We talk about lessons learned from an administration standpoint and how it correlate with Swedish Hockey philosophy.  We also talk about the TargetAid fundraising platform that his company partners with sports organizations and provides a good alternative to selling toilet paper?!

Glenn Hefferan and Jacob Dahlin sit down and go in depth (sorry for the length) in USA hockey and do a deep dive into what the numbers are telling us where D1 commits are coming from in USA Hockey.

Anny and Mange Safstrom are partners in life but also have a common goal in helping athletes with both skill development and injury prevention.  They together run Skills & Prehab for individuals and teams involved in mainly hockey but also figure skating in the southern part of Sweden.

Darryl Wolski with 2112 Hockey Agency and College Hockey Family Advisor (CHFA) has been in the hockey business sin 1985 when he worked as an announcer for the Winnipeg Jets and cheering on Swedish players Thomas Steel and Bengt Lundholm.  IN this episode we break down the different junior leagues in Canada and United States and talk about different paths to play junior and college hockey.  We also throw in some anecdotes about players, fishing stories and a lot of other interesting discussion points.  Enjoy!

Alex Houston, goaltender for NCAA D1 Canisius College in Buffalo, NY has already racked up an impressive resume at that age of 20.  As owner of Midwest Knights and while playing juniors he succeeded in recruiting top players to his summer program and established himself through solid relationships and by being not too far removed from the game himself.  He was quickly approached by his junior team Pueblo Bulls to join the staff as Director of Scouting for the new NCDC program in Colorado.  In this podcast we talk about his journey and how NCDC looks as well as some angles into Swedish players of course.

Nick DiLisi with 93 Hockey Services and Jacob Dahlin speaks on the topic of being an agent and family advisor for European players in the US and US players playing in Europe.

Wouter Hazebroek from Holland now lives in Falkenberg on the West Coast of Sweden.  He is the developer of Hockeygymnasium.se website that gives detailed information about everything on Hockey Academy Gymnasium 9-12th grade in Sweden.  In this episode we discuss the differences between NIU and LIU, next year's age group 2007 will be be selected and how SIHF supports and pushes the development of hockey at the youth level.

Johan Eriksson with Avenue Sports Management in Muskoka, ON Canada returns for a second appearance on the podcast to give the Swedish player the detailed information on how to make the transition from Swedish Junior Hockey to US and Canadian Juniors and College. In this episode we break down the different levels of junior hockey in US and Canada as well as the detailed import rules and restrictions for college.  The idea is to give the Swedish player the details they need if they are interested in making the jump across the Atlantic.

Henry Acres from BC, Canada played juniors in the BCHL and eventually found himself on a worldwide journey in Australia, Norway and Sweden playing at variety of levels.  A visit to the local bank in a small town in Northern Sweden changed the path where he met his future wife.  Henry is a coach, mentor, administrator and teacher and uses his platform to form relationships with players in Canada and Sweden.   In this episode we talk about common friends but mostly compare Sweden's juniors and systems with Canada and most of all have a good time.

Alfonso Acevedo with roots in El Salvador grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and his interest and love for hockey has provided a path through various online publications to now being the European Scout for Recruitscouting.com covering Sweden and Finland.   In this episode we talk about the recent world juniors and his view on the Swedish players and also the upcoming draft.

Jacob Rhodin - big scorer from Karlstad, Sweden via hockey gymnasium and juniors in Leksand sought a restart in the Canadian junior leagues and have found his own path with the goal of playing college hockey in the US.  Jacob shares his experience and challenges along the journey, how to get cut and persevere, how to compete with fellow draft picks and finding his own path and success.

Mike Bloome is the Director of Player Personnel with Lone Star Brahmas in the North American Hockey League (NAHL).  IN this episode we break down the steps for being noticed by scouts and GM's in the NAHL, how the rules work for transfers and imports as well as how NAHL teams recruit and eventually sign players to their roster.

Larissa Mills from London, Ontario, CAN grew up as a multi sport athlete and earned her education in education with a focus on behavioral management.  Today, she spends her time helping athletes, families and individual focusing on the mental game and wellness. In this episode we dive into the need to work on the mental game and how to separate yourself as an athlete, individual, coach or organization by a strategic approach to mental wellness.  We talk about the pit falls of the digital age and the difference between those who "win" in the mental game and its impact on performance.

Urban Omark is the first returning guest on the Swedish Jr Hockey Podcast.  We dive right into the strengths and weaknesses about the Swedish Junior Hockey system, how different clubs have it and compare Swedish clubs internally as well as vs. National Development Program in the US.  Urban speaks from experience from working with some of the best athletes in the northern Swedish area in Orkoldsvik and MODO Hockey.

Oskar Skiold grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm in a hockey family.  His dad played minor professional hockey in his hometown and Oskar followed his footsteps.  In this episode, we follow the twists and turns from his adolescence into adulthood from Stockholm junior hockey to the US and how he walked on at the University of Wisconsin to now playing minor pro in Sweden.

Oscar Alsenfelt spent 16 seasons as one of the all time great goaltenders of the SHL.  He got hsi big break advancing Vaxjo to the SHL and repeated the same in 13-14 season with Leksand and spent the rest of his career where he played junior hockey in Malmo Redhawks before retiring last season.  Oscar quickly was announced as the General Manager for the SDHL, Sweden's Women's Hockey league and he has quickly made his presence known not only by his fame but his passion and cerebral aspect of growing the game.

Kristian Skarphagen now spends his time as a speaker and motivational coach for businesses in Sweden and Europe.  In this episode we talk about his career as a strength and conditioning coach in Frolunda, KHL and for the Chicago Blackhawks organization and how his experiences in three countries and cultures has shaped his message to motivating both the body and mind of athletes and businesses today.

Jens Brandstrom is in his 19th year as a hockey coach and speaks of the opportunity to use his experience nad knowledge in all levels of coaching in Swedish youth hockey, womens hokey domestically and internationally to make the move to Hungary and now university hockey in Romania.  Jens talks about the similarities and differences of the countries hockey programs and levels and how he is able to use his style of leadership and coaching for success.

Kevin Cunningham the GM, coach and owner of the Norwich Sea Captains in the NA3HL speaks of his journey to starting a new team in the North American 3 Hockey League in Tier 3 of the US Junior System.  From his time in the college coaching to his time in the NAHL he speaks about what it's like to play and succeed in the American junior system at the Tier III level.

Lucas Karlsson is a big Swedish Defenseman, originally from Koping but as he tells it in his conversation, has always been a Leksand fan, grew up playing youth hockey from age 9 to 14 in Leksand, Sweden where his father Joakim was the youth hockey director.  His brother, Jack (previous episode) is 2 years older and was a big influence and both boys competed from a young age together. When, at the age of 14, the family decided to make a professional move for his fathers job, he ended up in Maryland and eventually with the Washington Jr Capitols organization for a few years playing AAA hockey. His imposing physical size of 6' 3" and 196 lbs makes Lucas and imposing presence.  He made the move away from home and followed his brothers footsteps to join the NJ Titans organization this year and recently was awarded a NAHL tender with the organization. We talk about his goals, his experience and how next step is to make the main camp roster and opening day spot for the NAHL NJ Titans.