Victor Hedman: Plenty of Reasons to Smile

In some Swedish media outlets, he has already been touted as the future Swedish Zdeno Chara. Regardless, young Victor Hedman is arguably the top defensive talent to come out of Sweden in at least a decade and the best one in his own family.

The 2009-eligible rearguard is four years younger than older brother Oscar Hedman. The elder Hedman was a Washington Capitals draftee back in 2004 and had an impressive rookie campaign a few years ago but has been unable to truly breakout since then, despite being a steady fixture on Modo's Swedish Elite League lineup.

It appears certain that Oscar Hedman is not the most talented defenseman in his family. If not this season, his kid brother Victor Hedman looks destined to surpass him down the line. This fall, the younger Hedman had already played 16 Elite League games with Modo, recording two assists and did not look out of place on the ice, competing against players who could be old enough to be his father.

"At first, I was just happy to get to practise a bit with the senior team, I had no idea that I'd be close to getting a regular spot", Hedman says about his expectations coming into the season.

"But it was a dream coming true to play with all these guys that you have grown idolizing as a kid. Amazing really. Having my brother around also makes everything about it easier, as I could always talk to him about both on and off-ice issues".

His season started with a bang in August, when he was one of the main reasons that the Swedish U18 team managed to win the gold medal for the first time in the prestigious Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Hedman was especially content with defeating Canada in the early stages of the tournament.

"They came into the tournament with a pretty cocky attitude and all these hyped-up players, so it felt really good to beat them and then going all the way".

"But it was really a team effort. Take a guy like Joakim Mattsson for instance (the Swedish captain), I'd hate to play against a guy like that. We played against each other when we were younger, he plays a gritty game and he is a great competitor".

Almost a CHLer

Prior to this season, Victor Hedman was seriously considering making the jump to North America and playing junior hockey in the CHL. However, once he was offered a full professional contract with Modo, that idea went out the window.

"I was definitely on my way, but once I got the contract with Modo there was really no doubt in my mind that I would stay home".

"I'm quite happy that things turned out the way they did. It's a good feeling to know that you would be able to finish high school and everything. But then again, if I wasn't offered the contract, chances are that I would have made the jump".

Hedman has many impressive traits on the ice, most notably is his strong skating ability combined with his huge frame, which makes him almost impossible to beat in his own end.

Modo's captain, Per Svartvadet, a former NHL player with the Atlanta Thrashers, points out the same things.

"You basically never see a kid that combines such a strong skating game with that kind of size. Normally there are some balance issues and what not, but not in this case".

"But still, he is only 16 years old and he'll definitely have his ups and down during the course of the season and sometimes he might even cry and feel miserable about himself and the game of hockey, but then it's the job for us veteran players to support him and get him up on his feet again".

So far though, this season has certainly been more about smiling rather than crying for Victor Hedman.