DRAFTED: who plays in the SHL?
An article in parts by @ABritOnThinIce1
PART 4. North Americans wanting to extend their careers
The SHL makes a great place for a successful career to those who have had success in the AHL but have not been able to break through into the NHL. That means that the country is a magnet for both American and Canadians who want to extend their career playing in Europe when their NHL dream is not realised.
In terms of top scorers that would include Ryan Lasch, Aaron Palushaj and Andrew Calof or Växjö Lakers' toughman Brendan Shinnimin. In fact, over 10% of players in the SHL are from Canada or America.
27 year old Shinnimin seems to finally have found himself again, scoring more regularly this season than during his three year's in the AHL at the Portland Pirates between 2012-15. The Canadian centre only got to play 12 games with Arizona Coyotes in 2015 meaning he had to move to Europe to continue to play professional hockey. Two seasons, first the NLA, and then the KHL, didn't see him flourish until moving to Sweden for this championship winning season with the Lakers.
A similar story can be told about American striker, Aaron Palushaj. The 28 year old played 68 NHL games with three different clubs without being to establish his place among that elite. After two unremarkable seasons in the KHL, the 2007 St Louis Blues drafted player has had a fantastic season at Brynäs IF, probably his best since leaving the AHL in 2014, where has played over 340 games amassing more than 230 points.
Both Shinnimin and Palushaj succeeded in the AHL before moving to Europe, but 31 year old American, Ryan Lasch and 26 year old Canadian, Andrew Calof are forwards who early on realised their style of hockey might thrive better in Europe.
In both case it might be to do with size, as the North American leagues tend to write off any player under 6 ft/ 183cm. Calof at 173 cm has only played professional hockey in Sweden, but with great success. He has two silver medals and one championship medal in only four year's in the country finishing in the top 25 for Total Points in three of those four years.
Ryan Lasch maybe considerably shorter than many of his opponents, at 170cm, but has an absolutely phenomenal career in Europe having won the national title three years in a row, with different teams in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland between 2015-2017. This year back in Sweden at Frölunda Indians he was second in Total Points, only one single point behind talk-of-town, Elias Pettersson. The American won that competition in 2015-6 when the Indians also won the Champions Hockey League, where Lasch was the European competition's top scorer.
Like Calof, he came to Sweden straight after college, but then went back to North America to play 30 games in the AHL in 2012-3 season without achieving the level of points production that has otherwise characterised his career. Lasch can rightly think of himself as the best American forward in Sweden and, arguably, one of the best in Europe.
In Part 5 we will look at a couple of the successful Swedish players who have never been drafted but still pack a punch in the Swedish Hockey League.
@ABritOnThinIce1
