Mamma Mia! Swedes are adjusting to life in America
By Kevin Connelly
YOUNGSTOWN
Alfred Larsson and Fredric Larsson are like most guys their age in that they play video games, watch countless hours of “Entourage” on Netflix and have a diet that consists of buffalo wings and Chipotle.
Where they differ is they grew up in Sweden and have only been in the United States for a short time. They’re also pursuing their dreams of playing in the National Hockey League and getting their start with the Youngstown Phantoms.
Despite having the same last name and hailing from the same country, Alfred and Fredric are not related. In fact, their hometowns of Malm ∂ and Karlstad are 260 miles away — or 420 kilometers to the natives.
Alfred, or Alfy as he’s referred to by his coaches and teammates, joined the Phantoms last season, where he played in 49 games and registered 19 points as a two-way center. He also played in all nine playoff games and recorded a goal and an assist.
“Of course it’s a big transition coming to a new country,” Alfred said. “But we have a great organization, with great teammates, a great coaching staff, and a great family that takes care of me so the transition was pretty smooth actually.”
It was the first time Alfred, 20, had moved away from home after living with his parents for 19 years.
As for Fredric, or — you guessed it — Fredy, he’s still adjusting to life in America. He’s only been in the country for two months, but says his life here has been pretty similar to his life in Sweden except for one thing — school.
“It’s hard to get to a new country and learn the language and all that stuff, but my two roommates have helped me a lot,” Fredric said. “[They] take me to dinner and all that stuff, so I think everyone is good on the team and they take care of each other.”
Fredric, 19, lives with defenseman Kyle Mackey and forward Josh Nenadal, who are from New York and Brecksville. They live with the family of Mike and Johnna Lewis (or billet family as they call them) to help ease the transition from life at home to life on their own.
Alfred said it’s nice to have some “billet” brothers and sisters to get into fights with like he used to back home. (He’s living with the family of Rodney and Connie Black). How fair those fights might be is debatable considering that the Swede is 6-foot 4, 205 pounds.
When asked how he got to be so tall with a father and brother right around 6-foot, Alfred joked, “I don’t know, I probably ate all my brother’s food when we were younger.”
Their American hockey careers may have just begun, but they’ve had hockey sticks in their hands for a while now. Growing up in Karlstad, Fredric started playing when he was 6. But being on an ice rink wasn’t his first choice.
“I wanted to be a soccer player, maybe even now, but I was too bad,” he said with a laugh. “I think I still wanna be a soccer player, but ...”
In the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers selected Fredric in the fourth round. He’s brought his game, and recognizable mustache to the United States to try and fine tune them both.
“I love it,” he said. “From maybe four years ago, it’s been a dream of mine to play junior hockey in the US.
“My game is similar to how they play here because in Sweden they like skill players and I’m more the physical type,” Fredric said. “So I like everything more here.”
Alfred, on the other hand, was born to be on skates. His father played professional hockey in a Swedish Elite League and introduced he and his brother, who’s two years younger, to hockey early on.
“We started skating when I was like 3,” Alfred said. “I played on my [first] team when I was 6 years old. I’ve been playing hockey my whole life.”
Playing hockey isn’t the only thing Alfred was born to do, apparently. He was team captain on his under-18 team and then an assistant captain on his under-20 team, both in Sweden. After being in Youngstown for less than a year, his teammates have already seen his leadership ability and voted him captain.
He’s the first European-born player to be named a Phantoms captain.
“It’s a big honor, of course, to become a team captain,” Alfred said. “I try to play the same way I did last year, try to be the same person because that was the reason they voted me as a captain, so I’m just going to try and stay the same and just do my thing.
“But it’s a big honor.”
During the offseason, Alfred committed to Merrimack College just outside of Boston. He’ll be enrolling there in 2014 and is excited to start school and join another new team.
In the meantime, he’s preparing himself by taking an online class and, well, enjoying his reaming time with his billet family.
“Maybe play some four square, maybe play some apples to apples, you never know,” he said with a smile. “I’ve started to enjoy watching [baseball] more now during the playoffs. I’m kind of a Red Sox fan and I think they’re doing pretty good.”
Whether it’s watching American sports, eating ribs or enjoying TV series’ such as “Friday Night Lights,” Alfy and Fredy are fitting right in to life in Youngstown.