Helsinki, Finland is nearly 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles) from Red Deer, Alberta.
For Rebels defenseman Christoffer Sedoff, the distance doesn’t seem to matter. The 17-year-old came to play hockey — something that can be done in both countries and in many countries in between.
While players in Finland are used to the larger IIHF-standard ice surface, players in Canada play on the 200-by-85 foot NHL-style ice surface. The IIHF ice has 13 more feet of width to play with and there is much less physical play because of it.
“I think it has been very good, very easy to transition from a bigger ice surface to a smaller ice surface,” opined Sedoff when discussing his move from the larger ice to the ones seen in Canada.
“This is a 17-year-old man that’s come over from Finland and has had a huge culture change, food, language all that comes with it. Although his English is good, you are still out of your routine that he’s had for 17 years and his transition to a smaller ice, a more physical game to a different system to everything that comes with it has been remarkable,” said Red Deer Rebels Assistant Coach Brad Flynn.
“And the language, no problem,” added Sedoff.
In speaking with the Helsinki native, you would never guess that he is in his first season playing hockey in North America. His English is nearly impeccable but there is certainly a Finnish accent.
There are always other aspects of a player’s life in the WHL that need taking care of. Not many players are fortunate enough to play in the same city they live in. That means the teams and players rely on billet families and their teammates to make life easier.
“It has been quite easy. Good billets and the guys have helped me out with something if I need something and the team also,” said Sedoff.
“I think what we have done is have a lot of meetings with him. We have insulated him with the right group,” said Flynn.
“We have a great group in that dressing room that he definitely has 22 brothers in there, and I know that he feels that way. He’s fit in great, especially with the language. I know that hasn’t been an issue because he is very well-spoken in English.”
“In saying that, just like with Alexander Alexeyev, Brent has been around so long that he knows how challenging it is and he knows all the little things that the players coming from Europe miss about home and he tries to recreate that here but make sure they integrate into the ‘Canadian’ lifestyle as well. His billets are incredible and they treat him like a son and he’s had a good time there,” added Flynn.
Sedoff has been fortunate enough to spend some time with the Finnish National Team throughout his young career. He has 28 games of experience with those teams as well as being a participant in last year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
“It has been good playing against hard competition and just competition in the whole national team (Finland) has been very good and a good experience,” said Sedoff of his international duty.
There is a chance that Sedoff could be called to wear the blue and white of Finland again in the near future. The next World Junior hockey tournament is being held in Red Deer and Edmonton, and with his draft stock continuing to rise, he is sure to be on the radar of the Finnish national team’s selection committee.
Sedoff has scored twice in the Western Hockey League this season and has added 12 assists. Not numbers that jump off the page but they don’t tell the whole tale of Sedoff’s season.
Speaking of draft stock, the Central Scouting Service has Sedoff ranked as a ‘B’ prospect as of their November release. Sedoff was also invited to take part in the Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
“I tentatively have Sedoff at the top of my fourth round (94th) just ahead of fellow Finnish import D Kasper Puutio (95th). Both are strong skaters. Sedoff is better positionally and may have a more untapped offensive upside. Sedoff’s strengths are his skating and his positional play/awareness. He’s a solid and smart prospect from what I’ve seen,” said Larry Fisher of The Hockey Writers about Sedoff.
Fisher’s finalized January rankings will come out in the next week or so.
“Just playing with my skill set and giving everything every day out there,” said Sedoff of his confidence on the ice for the Rebels. “I think I am just trusting my abilities more every game and just using them more.”
“He’s been playing really well, so when you are playing really well, you don’t have so many negative thoughts and that’s what’s really helped his transition. He’s fit into our system. We haven’t built a system around him so he has a lot of confidence. When you have confidence and you feel good about your game, you’re not worrying about things away from the rink as much. When your game’s bad, you’re usually thinking about things away from the rink more than you should be,” added Flynn.
Of course, every player that plays in the WHL is playing in the league for the development opportunities. The league prides itself on being one of if not the best development leagues in the world.
Flynn characterized Sedoff’s areas of improvement as something he would hope every young elite player would see for himself and want to work on.
“Every player has to be doing something to improve themselves. The nice thing about Christoffer is I don’t go looking for him — he comes looking for me to get better. That is an extremely good quality to have in a young player. The other thing about him is he is able to apply what he learns quickly and that just shows his hockey sense and his potential.”
Flynn has seen players come and go from the Rebels as well as his other stops along the way. Helping players become better is top of mind for Flynn, and he offers some advice on areas of improvement for Sedoff to reach the pinnacle of hockey, the NHL.
“The things he needs to improve on are what most 17-year-old defensemen need to improve on,” said Flynn. “Their skating, their decision making, when to make reads to join the rush and when not to. Other than that, he’s a lot like a lot of other 17-year-old defensemen that just have to continue to work on his fundamentals.”
“His compete, his battle, his shot, his stickhandling — all those skills, they are right where they need to be for a prospect of his level. Do they need to improve for the next level? Absolutely, but he’s the last guy off the ice, he’s the first guy on the ice, he’s in the weight room consistently, he does what he needs to do for his body with the training staff and nutrition, so it’s tough to find negatives in his game.”
“His mobility and his speed is an area of improvement, but saying that, find me one player that can’t get faster and I’ll show you Connor McDavid. Other than that, everyone can work on their speed.”
So long as Sedoff continues to put the work in, the sky’s the limit for the young Finn. It’s expected he will hear his name called this June at the NHL Draft in Montreal.
