Chay Genoway joined Frölunda Indians in the off season after four years in the KHL. He's currently the most productive defenseman in the Champions Hockey League, with 6+9 in 15 games - and trails only teammate Ryan Lasch for the league's top scorer honour.
"You hear interest in the off season and I spent a lot of time on the phone with (General Manager) Fredrik Sjöström. I was getting a feel for Frölunda, and I actually did my homework on their team," recalled the 32-year-old about the off-season move to Sweden. "The more I learned about them, the more excited I was to have opportunity to play there. After learning about their history and all it was pretty much a no-brainer to make the move. For playing in the SHL, Frölunda is a great place."
He continued: "I think it was a little bit of everything that sold it for me - they have a winning track record, but to hear their philosophy about building a system and incorporating that for the players on the team just sounded so modern and forward-thinking."
Although the Indians travel around Europe in the CHL, it's nothing compared to what he experienced for those four seasons in the KHL. "Of course the travel is different compared to my time in the KHL. Here in Sweden where you can bus the day of games to a lot of places, whereas in the KHL you go on 6-8 day road trips," explained Genoway. "Both have their challenges; the leagues are different - in my opinion the SHL is very aggressive with fore-checking in neutral zone, and lot of defensive structure that way. The KHL has a lot more trapping and controlled breakouts. As a defenseman I had to get used to this aggressive fore-checking for a while. It's definitely a challenge, but something we pride ourselves on."
"The CHL is a big deal for us... people forget how close we were to being eliminated this season."Genoway on his team's approach, and recalls the HC Lugano series
"The CHL has been a lot of fun, and it's exciting to do your homework before you play the team as different leagues have different playing styles," said the defenseman who also has 1 NHL game to his name. "You try to learn as quick as possible when the game starts. We've had a couple of Czech teams in a row now, but each game is a different challenge."
While leagues do play different styles, Frölunda have had a few looks at Czech teams facing Brno in the Quarter-Finals, and Pilsen in this Semi-Final round. "Pilsen did a really good job of fore-checking when they had a chance, and also different look with their trap. We had some trouble with them at times during the game, and they obviously have a couple of key players we noticed very quickly out there."
With three CHL finals under their belts and two trophy wins, there's no mistaking the Indians' im in the league this season. "It's a big deal for us here. We've been treating these CHL games like true playoff games. I think it's a credit to the CHL that we were so close to going out of the competition in the Round of 16 already," he remembered. "Everyone knew how good of a team Lugano are, and it was no surprise that it went down to the wire. People forget about how close we came go being knocked out, and it's something we now have to take advantage of."
At the helm of the Indians throughout their CHL success has ben Head Coach Roger Rönnberg, who's also led the team since 2013 and is well-respected both in his home country and beyond. "Roger is very passionate, he spends a lot of time thinking about the game and building his philosophy. The way that he makes every player feel important is key," said Genoway of his coach. "He spends time individually with players and lets them know what he expects form them, and makes it very black and white what type of player he needs everyone to be within the system. I have a lot of respect for work he puts in."
Key to Frölunda's success in both the SHL and CHL has been the way they're able to bring through young players from their academy. Rasmus Dahlin now plies his trade in the NHL, and this season has seen Samuel Fagemo stepping up into a bigger role. "Another one of the things that excited me about coming to Frölunda was their academy," explained the native of Morden, Manitoba. "As an older guy on the team it's a fun thing to work with the younger guys and have a chance to see them grow, and I can bring some experience to that. I hope these guys can make it to the big time, and for now I'll try to help them as much as possible."