Top Swedish Hockey Players Training At Braemar Ice Arena
EDINA, Minn. (WCCO) -- They are a group of high end hockey players with a realistic dream of playing in the NHL one day.
They range in age from 16 to 19 years old, and they came from Sweden to spend a week in Minnesota to get better, because they believe in the teaching. They gather at storied Braemar Arena in Edina.
They all understand this: That hockey is now a game of inches. They are elite, they just need to get a little better.
"From just yesterday I start out taking 10 strides from the goal line to the blue line. At the end of the practice I took seven strides and I was half a second faster," Gustaf Franzen, a Swedish professional hockey player, said.
So they come to work with renkown skating coach Barry Karn and reknown hockey trainer Kevin Ziegler.
"A lot of these guys, you have a 16-year-old out here who plays professionally with the men's team, some of these kids have been living on their own since they were 15 years old. Think about that," Ziegler said. "So they are maybe a little bit more mature in some respects."
What they want is to fuel their dream by taking a week-long crash course. It's the little things, the improvement they seek is measurable in hockey terms. That's where Karn comes in.
"It is the ability to remain on the surface of the ice," Karn said. "If you treat the ice like a sheet of glass or paper thin, being able to put all your power and movements into your skating."
"When we got into the practice and the development, Kevin Ziegler and Barry Karn bring another level of what we're doing over in Sweden," Peter Wallen, a Sweden hockey agent, said.
Above it all, they are on an adventure in their hockey careers and in their lives. They are taking an international journey in the summer to do something they love with people they enjoy. That's a pretty good life.
"It's not just getting better. Of course that's the main focus, but it's also a great trip having fun with all the guys and being a family together," Franzen said.
