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Chatting With Chesterfield Native, Jeff LoVecchio |
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There is a very beautiful thing about hockey, and that is it is shared all over the world. From Canada to Russia, the United States to Sweden, and everywhere in between, there is hockey.
Jeff LoVecchio, a native of Chesterfield, Missouri, has played hockey all over the world. Growing up playing in Missouri, to where he is now, playing professionally in Austria, he has experienced hockey in many different leagues in many different countries.
He was kind enough to talk with HockeyBuzz regarding his playing career, and a little on who he's played with.
Randall Ritchey : First off, can you pronounce your current hockey teams name for us?
Jeff LoVecchio : I play for Alba Volan in the Austrian EBEL. The name of the town I play in is Szekesfehervar - phonetically thats Say-Kish-Fe-Hair-Var. My team is located in Hungary right outside of Budapest, by far my favorite city in all of Europe, probably the world. The Hungarian language is definitely not easy!
RR : You're having a very successful season with your current club in Austria with 21 goals, 12 assists in 32 games. How do you feel about the season you're having?
JL : I am pretty happy with how my season is going so far. The EBEL is one of the top leagues in Europe so it has been a fun season up to this point. I am playing with two great line mates in Frank Banham (who has played in the NHL, KHL, AHL, Liga, NLA, NLB, Allsvenskan, and the EBEL) and Andrew Sarauer, and our chemistry has allowed us all to have a pretty productive season to date. Hopefully we can keep it up through the last twenty one games of the season.
RR : Looking at the roster, there look to be quite a few North American's on the roster, does that make it easier on you playing in a different country?
JL : My team has nine imports, eight of which are North Americans and one Swede, which is the most imports I have played with on one team thus far in my European career. To start the season off with that many guys in the same position as myself, being removed from your home and native language is definitely a huge help. It makes trips to the grocery store a little easier trying to figure out what things are etc. My wife and I have had little to no trouble with Hungarian's speaking English though, so that hasn't really been a challenge this season. Also, there is only probably one or two guys on my team that don't speak English fluently, everyone else you wouldn't even know that they were from Hungary - aside from the fact that Hungarian's say "Hello" for hello and goodbye, which makes leaving a room pretty confusing sometimes. My coach is from the states also.
RR : Since turning pro, you've played in a few different leagues, What are the biggest differences between the European leagues compared to the North American leagues?
JL : In my professional career I have now played in the AHL, EBEL, ECHL, Get Ligaen, Serie A, and 7 pre season games in the NHL. I would rank them in terms of difficulty in that order (excluding the NHL of course). The AHL is the hardest, fastest paced league I have ever played in, or seen. Guys are trying to prove themselves every single night looking to establish themselves or get called up so the speed is one hundred miles an hour at all times. It's basically college hockey but with a lot more skill and smarts. The EBEL, although played on an Olympic sheet of ice, is very physical. Not as physical as the AHL but every night guys are competing their hardest and laying their bodies on the line. The quality of imports in this league is very high, with almost every team having guys that have played in the NHL, and/or a lot of AHL or other top european leagues experience. The EBEL teams that were in the Champions Hockey League this season went further than all of the DEL or NLA teams, which shows how good this league is. The ECHL, one level below the AHL in the US is a very underrated league. Most young players on NHL contracts start their careers here so that they can get a lot of playing time and learn what it means to be a professional athlete. Their is a lot of high end skill playing in this league at any given night. I only played twenty something games in this league but found if to be very difficult due to the fact that most nights we were playing with a very shortened bench because of call ups to the AHL or because of weekly salary cap problems. This league seems to get better and better each year since players are realizing that just because they are a late bloomer doesn't mean they can't get to the NHL from the ECHL. The Norwegian Get Ligaen was more of a wide open skilled game and less physical. The top two teams in that league are very good and could easily compete in higher leagues but there was a pretty big drop off between the top teams and the bottom couple of teams in that league. The Italian Serie A, where I played my first season in Europe during the lock out was actually a very physical league. I was surprised at how many imports each team had because most teams had American-Italian's and Canadian-Italian's on their rosters which did not count against their import limits. The skill was definitely not as high as the EBEL but their was a lot of parity in the league so every night was a battle. They have recently cut the amount of imports allowed per team in Italy in half so it is now a much weaker league, however the quality of imports is still pretty high there.
RR : As a native of Chesterfield, Missouri, I'm gathering you grew up a Blues fan. What do you think about the current season, (if you can keep up with them).
JL : I was able to follow the blues at the start of the year when they were doing really well but lately our schedule has been pretty hectic so i haven't been able to follow as closely. I hope they can get back to their early season form. Having good role models on the ice to watch will only help the young talent in St. Louis, much like I think the Detroit Red Wings have been instrumental in the development of young Michigan hockey players over the last twenty years.
RR : You got to play a bit with current Blue and St. Louis native, Paul Stastny, when you played in the USHL with the River City Lancers. What do you believe is his best asset in his game?
JL : Stas and I played together from I think 4th grade all the way through junior hockey in Omaha. He is actually the reason I became a forward. My dad was coaching us one year and I saw all of the goals Paul was scoring, I was playing defense at the time and I decided that I wanted to score goals too, so I told my dad I wanted to play forward so that I could score like Pauly did. Even when we were little, Paul has had the ability to see the ice like only the best players in the game do. He sees things no one else around him does. If you focus only on what he does, where he positions himself and his stick, all game long he does "the little things" that you hear coaches talk about on a consistent basis that has ALWAYS allowed him to make whoever he played with better. He's one of the best face-off men year in and year out, he kills penalties, plays the PP, dishes the puck like its his job and is very sound defensively. I think the Blues signing him was one of the best moves they have made in the five years.
RR : Last question, obviously the NHL is always the goal for any hockey player, but your career has taken a different route. Is there anything you would change about the way you've played or how your career has shaped out?
JL : Thats a very tough question for me, one that will always be in the background of my mind. I had some untimely injuries that I wish didn't happen, but thats part of the game, everyone has them, I could use that as an excuse or use it to fuel me to further my career and keep getting better each season over here in Europe. My goal now is to focus on being the best player I can be at this time in my career and make the best out of the amazing opportunities I have over here in Europe. This life isn't what I envisioned growing up, not being in the NHL, but it definitely comes a close second. My season is almost thirty games shorter, I usually only play two games a week, the fans here are the craziest most passionate fans I've ever seen, and my wife and I get to spend a lot more time together. Not to mention, we have been able to travel all over Europe and visit so many places that we would have never ever seen playing in the US. So like I said, its a tough question for me…do I wish I was in the NHL, obviously. Do I absolutely love my life and feel very fortunate that I am able to play hockey for a living while living in Europe every season…OBVIOUSLY!!
I'd like to thank Jeff for a very in-depth interview, letting us in on the life of a professional hockey player. It's a side we usually don't get to see, so being able to get a glimpse of what these guys actually get to do is pretty awesome.
Check back tomorrow for tomorrow's pre-game article before the Blues get back at it against the Anaheim Ducks.
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