The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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    Janne Viiala

December 23, 2009

Finland native fitting in nicely with East/Loyola

Tyler Buckentine

MANKATO — When Janne Viiala came to Mankato, he had to change plenty about his everyday life. In addition to the culture shock, some of Viiala’s biggest changes came on the hockey rink.

The 17-year-old foreign exchange student is from Kangasala, Finland — about 200 miles from the capital city of Helsinki. He noticed a big difference in the style of play when he joined the East/Loyola boys hockey team this fall. North American hockey is a lot different compared to what he was used to in Europe.

“It’s more physical here. You have more contact and you have to skate faster,” Viiala said. “In Finland, we focus on stickhandling and passing. There have been a couple of opportunities for me to deliver the hit but I’m still waiting for the big one.”

Early in the preseason, East/Loyola coach Aaron Anderson moved Viiala to the blueline from the forward position, where he had played since he was five years old. More change, but so far it’s been a smooth transition.

“We decided if we wanted to get him on the ice as much as possible we had to move him to defense,” Anderson said. “I’ve been impressed with his ability to adapt to a different style of game.

“He’s got size, speed and really good hands. That sets him apart from the other players.”

Viiala is tied for fourth on the team in goals (4) and points (9) and is fifth in assists (5).

“I played forward for 12 years and this is my first year playing defense,” said Viiala, who has paired with fellow defenseman Alex Finke for most of the season. “I was kind of nervous before the season about how it’s going to go but it’s going well. I miss playing forward a little bit but defense is a lot less skating.”

Viiala’s cousins and two older siblings also came to America as exchange students. His sister went to Vermont and his brother studied in Utah. Viiala thought of it as ‘his turn.’

Brenda Dorn and Randy Goodrich have hosted three foreign exchange students before through International Experience, a program that brings foreign students to the U.S. When they saw Viiala’s online profile, they knew they had to have him.

“We’ve never hosted a hockey player before,” Dorn said. “We saw Janne was a good student and that he played ice hockey. That made Randy happy.”

Goodrich was an MSU hockey season ticket holder until this year.

“We’ve had such good experience with other kids that we hosted in the past,” said Dorn, who is also hosting an exchange student from Germany. “(Janne) is the best. He’s pretty upbeat all the time and we kind of give him a lot of crap. He’s easy going and fun.”

It seems Viiala is able to enjoy camaraderie with his “family”, but also the friendships he’s made at All Seasons Arena.

“All the guys on the team welcomed me,” Viiala said. “I have made a lot of good friends here.”

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High School Sports