A Quick Chat With Mikael Granlund

Thanks to the NHL lockout, there are a bunch of guys who just showed up in Sugar Land today who would normally not have come anywhere near the place. One of those guys is Mikael Granlund from Finland. So we took the chance to chat with Granlund for a bit earlier this afternoon at SLICE.

He's close to fulfilling a dream, the dream of playing in the NHL, which has been his dream since he was a kid. And he's really looking forward to playing some actual hockey in a competitive situation tomorrow night, even if the competitive situation is merely an exhibition game.

"It’s always been a dream since I was a kid to play here in North American, and maybe someday in the NHL. I am so excited," he said. "Now I’m here and just waiting for games.

He thinks his biggest challenge will basically be dealing with the smaller ice surface here in North America: "That’s maybe the biggest thing. You don’t have that much time and space on the ice. But still, it’s the same game and everything’s the same."

But basically, all that he's got to do, he believes, is just his play his game.

And in a short amount of time, we'll see just how easily he makes the adjustments.