The Stansson's Sacrifice

[ahockeyguy 110]

Wolf Stansson sighs, barely audibly, and looks to the ground briefly before politely smiling back at his interlocutor. He is tired of being asked the same question, over and over, since he has come to North American shores to play hockey on a more competitive level. “No,” he says calmly, “I’m not from Reykjavik.”

 

In fact, Stansson was born and raised in Ísafjörður, in northwest Iceland. He played hockey in a nation not known for doing so, and now, he wanted advanced training in North America. Stansson had a natural talent for hockey, something that was plain to see to his coaches as early as ten years old. But to his parents, it was noticeable much earlier. “He saw his first hockey game on TV when he was four,” Jan Stansson, Wolf’s father, beamed proudly. “And I think he was hooked from then on.”

 

Wolf played junior hockey in Iceland (not to be confused with the junior level Americans and Canadians are used to) from the ages of 13 to 16. At age 13, he so dominated the others at the early tryouts that they sent him to play with the 14-year-olds. Even as a defensemen, Stansson scored a dozen goals in 18 games, and added 19 assists. The next year he was even more dominant, but this was most reflected in his low penalty minutes and high plus-minus rating. By the time he was 16, he was six feet tall, 170 pounds and destroying his competition day-in and day-out. He knew he needed a change.

 

“It wasn’t like I was tired of winning,” Wolf says, pointing to a newspaper article dealing with Ísafjörður’s junior team capturing the Icelandic championship. “But my dream is to make it to the VHL. And I don’t think I can do that from Iceland.”

 

On the advice of his coaches, and meeting with his parents, Wolf Stansson decided to move to North America. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they did have connections, and these connections paved the way for off-season training. “I didn’t have an off-season. Not that I am complaining!” he laughed. Stansson focused on becoming a two-way player, learning discipline to avoid penalty minutes while playing smart hockey. “It wasn’t like I didn’t know how to play defense,” Wolf says, “But I was just so used to being able to physically dominate. That’s not the case here.”

 

Indeed. In fact, Stansson found himself having to hold, hook, and chase players who were just as big, and just as talented—or more so. “I think it was a real wakeup call,” said Jan, who stays with Wolf most days on a rotating basis with his wife. Building endurance, developing his skills, and learning to anticipate the play were key to his development.

 

“I had to learn to constantly be thinking ahead, while playing out what I was supposed to do in the moment. It is, at first, very overwhelming. But when you get it, it’s very rewarding,” Wolf confesses. He’s hoping that all of the sacrifice, all of the hours, and all of the training is going to pay off with a good draft selection in the upcoming VHLM draft.

 

In our next Media Spot, we will sit down and conduct an interview with Wolf Stansson on what he expects from the upcoming draft and season.

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

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