USHL: QA with Victor Anilane

The Sioux Falls Stampede are probably better known for their role in developing Austrians for the NHL, namely Thomas Vanek and Andreas Nodl, but this season "The Herd" have a Swede making a big impact. Six-foot-three, 202-pound left winger Victor Anilane has already established himself as an offensive presence by earning USHL Offensive Player of the Week honors the first week of the 2008-09 regular season, building on the point-per-game-plus pace he had in Swedish J20s in 2007-08 with Rögle.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to talk with Anilane after a 5-4 Sioux Falls shootout victory, in which the Swede tallied two assists and scored in the shootout. Anilane discussed his early experience in the USHL, his hockey career in Sweden, his commitment to Bemidji State, his strengths and weaknesses, players he admires, and the possibility of being selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's: What is the proper pronunciation of your last name?

Anilane: In English?

McKeen's: Or Swedish (spelled Änilane in Swedish), or both?

Anilane: Well, I can take it in English first: it's ANN-a-lane. In Swedish, it's ANN-e-lon. But, say it in English, because we're in America now.

McKeen's: Americanized version it is, then. Last week you were the USHL Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game winning goal and adding two assists, and you put up more points last night and put some up some more tonight, so now we have a Swede dominating the USHL early in the season. So, with that, how was it that you came to play in North America?

Anilane: I just wanted to go, one day, to play in North America, the USHL, the best junior hockey in the U.S. I thought that the Sioux Falls Stampede was a great option for me and now I'm here and I'm so glad that I'm here, because I like this team, I like my teammates, and the coaching staff. It's perfect. So, yeah, I just wanted to try it and here I am.

McKeen's: I see that you've committed to Bemidji State.

Anilane: That's right.

McKeen's: Not too far from Sioux Falls, at least in terms of global travel. What made you decide that Bemidji State was the right place for you and how long has Bemidji State been in contact with you?

Anilane: They saw me at a camp with the Swedish national team in February of 2008, so it was pretty much from that time. We started talking with each other and I committed to them in April or May, and I'm glad I did that, because it feels like a great option for me, just like Sioux Falls. I told them that I wanted to play in the USHL one year before I go to college. So that's the reason, too, why I'm here in Sioux Falls. Bemidji helped me with finding a team for me, and Sioux Falls was interested, and here I am.

McKeen's: Is that one year with the intention of helping you to adapt to North American hockey?

Anilane: Exactly, exactly. I'm going from the big rink to the small rink. I'm just here to adjust myself to North American hockey. It's great.

McKeen's: If I might ask, were there any other schools pursuing you and, if so, which ones?

Anilane: Oh, there were, but I really don't want to mention them, because I've committed to Bemidji State. It seemed like a great option for me, because so far I like the coaching staff there, too, they're helping me a lot with all the NCAA paperwork and things like that. It's great.

McKeen's: Hopefully with that help you can avoid some of the things that befell Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Luca Cunti last year with St. Cloud State and have everything taken care of or figured out well before the season starts.

Anilane: Exactly.

McKeen's: I take it when you played in the Allsvenskan League that you were not paid?

Anilane: No, exactly.

McKeen's: There are quite a few levels in Europe where some of the players are professional, but there are younger players like you that are not…

Anilane: Exactly. They just called me up. Yeah, I didn't sign a contract with the men's team or anything like that. I just had a junior contract, and all the junior players signed, in the whole junior league, the J20 league.

McKeen's: Now, last year you put up a point per game in Swedish juniors with Rögle, which league is pretty good. So, how would you say the hockey in the USHL compares with Swedish J20s?

Anilane: Well, that's a good question. The Swedish elite junior league is good, absolutely. There are a lot of guys in the Swedish junior league that would be so good that they could play in the USHL. But, I think that, in the USHL, all teams are good. So, you don't have an easy game, you have to compete hard every night. So, if we collected, like, the ten best teams in the Swedish junior league, that's like the USHL. But, the USHL is a little bit better. So, generally, it's a better league, the USHL. I can mention, too, that I did not know that it was so high quality of a league. So, I'm very glad, because it's so fun. I like when you have to compete and when you have to play hard, no easy games. If you don't (compete hard in the USHL), you'll probably lose.

McKeen's: Also, as we touched on, you played for Rögle in the Allsvenskan, the second highest league in Sweden, which is pretty good, a league where Fabian Brunnstrom began to start putting himself on the map.

Anilane: That's right.

McKeen's: So, what was the hockey like in the Allsvenskan League compared to the USHL?

Anilane: The guys are older. They are men, men in the Allsvenskan, and they're a little bit more skilled. But, it's faster here and it's more intense, more hits, and you go really hard. They have a little bit more experience and they know how to handle the puck in different situations (in the Allsvenskan). But, I like the hockey more here than I like the Allsvenskan League, and I can also mention that with the audience and the fans, they are pretty much the same as in the Allsvenskan League.

McKeen's: How big of a jump was it playing J20 to playing Allsvenskan?

Anilane: That was a pretty big jump, actually, because Allsvenskan is better than the junior league. I was just glad to be able to do that, because we had some injuries on the men's team and they called me up. That was just a great experience for me, I'm so glad I was able to do that.

McKeen's: So, how would you say the J20s compares to, say, the Swedish First Division?

Anilane: The First Division in Sweden? That's like the third "division."

McKeen's: Right.

Anilane: Yeah, that's pretty much the same. I prefer playing junior instead of Division I, as it's called in Sweden, because there are some guys, sometimes, that just play because they are old and just doing it for a little bit of fun. In the junior league, all guys compete hard, they work to develop themselves and become better hockey players.

McKeen's: I noticed in my research that you played for the Vastra Frolunda organization prior to Rögle. How was it that you played for them and then Rögle?

Anilane: I did my first two years in high school there. I played with the J18 team, two years that I'm very happy with, because we had a good team. But, when I switched to Rögle, I'm glad that I did that, because I developed myself more in Rögle and I became a better player there.

McKeen's: Was that a case where you were able to get more icetime with Rögle than you would with Vastra Frolunda, one of the top organizations in Sweden?

Anilane: Exactly. That's right. They (Rögle) could offer me more icetime with the juniors and also the chance to play with the men's team, because they are in the Allsvenskan League and Vastra Frolunda's team is in the Elite League. That was a little tough, too, when I moved to Rögle.

McKeen's: You're already making an impact in the USHL, so what are the strengths of your game that have been helping you achieve that so far?

Anilane: Yeah. I'm a pretty big player, so I try to use my body to protect the puck, and in my eyes I'm a pretty good skater, too, for my size, and I like to go to the net and create some chances for my teammates and for myself. So far, I've doing it good, but I don't think, actually, about putting up points. Because when you start thinking about putting up points, you don't.

McKeen's: Yep.

Anilane: That's so true. It's one of the truths of hockey. So, I'm not thinking about it, I just go out there and play.

McKeen's: On the flipside, what are the areas of your game that you're focusing on trying to improve the most this season?

Anilane: My puckhandling could be better, making moves, and so on, and sometimes when we're backchecking, I need to find my guy, on the breakaways. I would say puckhandling.

McKeen's: Coming to Sioux Falls, what are some of the biggest adjustments you've faced both on and off the ice?

Anilane: Well, off ice, it's probably the food. I love pasta, so I found so good pasta in Sioux Falls, and my housing family, they cook good food, too. So I'm happy with that. On the ice, I would say that the play here in the USHL is more intensive. I like it. I like it, absolutely. As I said, too, all the teams in the league are good, and that's cool, because you have to compete hard every night.

McKeen's: I've noticed when you play, a lot of the time so far, it seems like that you're not in the play as much, but kind of away from the play, but then you come in and strike. Is that the way it is in Sweden, not so much of everybody moving at a million miles per hour?

Anilane: Yeah. Actually, I don't know why, but my legs were pretty tired today. But, I want to play intensive and keep my feet moving all the time, because if I don't, I'm a bad player because of my size and I just kind of sit on the ice. So my feet have to work hard, and I always try to think about that when I'm on the ice, "Skate hard, skate hard." That's one word I have in my mind: "Skate, skate, skate."

McKeen's: Going back to your youth in Sweden, when did you start playing and how did you get that start?

Anilane: I was four or five years old. My dad played and he brought me to the rink. My dad's helped me a lot, and my mom, too, of course. I love hockey and loved it from the first time, so I just kept playing.

McKeen's: Did your dad play at any professional levels at all?

Anilane: No. I can't say that. He was over for a summer camp, he was skating with his friends in Buffalo, but nothing serious. He's not saying that he was a pro player, I can tell you that.

McKeen's: Who were some of the best players that you skated with and against when you played in Sweden?

Anilane: I can tell you that the best player is Kenny Jonsson, the best defenseman in the Olympic Games and in the NHL for 10 years or so. And skated against? That's really hard to say, but I know one guy that plays for the St. Louis Blues, Patrik Berglund, an '88. I met him my second game in the Allsvenskan League, and he played for Vasteras, and he's a huge guy. He's a very good guy. It's not surprising that the St. Louis Blues like him. So, I would say the best player I've played with, Kenny Jonsson, and best player against, Patrick Berglund.

McKeen's: Who are some of your Sioux Falls teammates that impress you the most?

Anilane: Oh, I think that we have a great mix. We have fast players like Robbie Vrolyk, we have good defensemen, we have good guys who go hard to the net like Josh Holstrom, who I'm playing, always in front of the net, and I love it. It's hard to mention (pauses), I think we have a good mix overall.

McKeen's: It is looking that way, watching Sioux Falls a little more. On a different topic, I know one of your favorite players was Mats Sundin, and I don't know if that has anything to do with your number (13).

Anilane: Yep, that's right.

McKeen's: But, who were some of your favorite players growing up and currently, and who are some of the players that you'd like to be similar to or that you feel you're similar to?

Anilane: Well, it's hard to say. I like a guy in the NHL very much that's big, skates good, and puts some points up, too, and that's Rick Nash. I think he's a great player. I try to look at him and how he uses his body. Dany Heatley, too, is big, maybe not a good skater, I don't know, but he puts some pucks in the net and he uses the body very good in the corners in the offensive zone.

McKeen's: No argument to the contrary from me. Lastly, this is your third and final year of eligibility for the NHL Entry Draft. Have any NHL teams been showing interest in you in the past that you're aware of and do you feel you have a shot at that if you do well this year?

Anilane: I don't try to think about that. I talked with one NHL team before the draft last year, but I don't want to mention that NHL club, because they didn't draft me (laughs). But, I don't know, that's a game, and I don't think about that. I just think about playing good here, and that's the only thing I think about. Because, you can go to the NHL even if you don't get drafted, like Fabian Brunnstrom. Maybe it's a little bit harder, though, of course, but…

McKeen's: That's true. A lot of players do go the undrafted route.