2001-2002 Bulldog Hockey Feature: Kristian Schroder

A native of Malmö, Sweden, Schroder has always opened the door when an opportunity came knocking. That explains one reason why the FSU defenseman left Europe at age 18 and traveled over 4,500 miles to pursue his dream of playing collegiate hockey in North America. He wound up in Saskatchewan after his Swedish junior team was invited to Canada for a tournament.

The right place, the right time.

Schroder was usually the one to answer the telephone when anyone called. One of those frequent callers was Bulldogs' assistant coach Drew Famulak, who was recruiting Schroder's roommate at the time, Scott Lewis. As fate would have it, both were teammates of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Lebret Eagles and would continue their college careers at Ferris State with Schroder following Lewis to the Big Rapids campus a year later.

"I was interested in going to college and playing hockey," said Schroder. "Ferris State seemed like a good program and I knew some other players (Scott Lewis and Vince Owen) who were already there."

The right place, the right time.

"We had a roster spot open at the end of year so we made him an offer," recalls Famulak. "I watched him several times over a three-year period. I knew he would infuse more mobility in our defensive corps because of his skating and puck-handling skills."

Famulak's impression of Schroder's abilities couldn't have been more accurate. The 5-10, 178-pound blueliner has developed into a contributor during his career despite overcoming a series of injuries. As a freshman in 1998-99, Schroder played in nine games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. However, he bounced back the following year with his best performance in a Bulldog uniform to date as evidenced by registering a personal career-best nine points on three goals and six assists to go along with a +13 plus/minus rating in 36 outings. Unfortunately, Schroder didn't stay healthy for long as his junior year in 2000-01 was plagued by two concussions which forced him to miss a total of 18 contests.

While the rash of injuries has split up multiple seasons in his Ferris career, there has been a silver lining of sorts as a result of his misfortune on the ice.

"I believe they (injuries) have made me become a better player," Schroder said. "You get stronger, both physically and mentally. You also know the feeling when someone else gets injured.

"In another way, you try and block out what the consequences of still playing might be," added Schroder. Famulak has also observed a change in Schroder's approach to the game.

"He has become mentally stronger through those injuries," stated Famulak. "The fact that he's so well-conditioned has helped him considerably in bouncing back. He's determined to succeed at this level whatever the price."

The right place, the right time.

Growing up in Sweden's southern most and third-largest city Malmö, which is located on the Baltic Sea and is a 20-minute train ride east from Copenhagen, Denmark, gave Schroder exposure to a variety of sports. In fact, he began his childhood days playing soccer before his father, Stefan, bought him a pair of skates at age four and introduced him to ice hockey. Schroder's interest in the sport grew through the years as he watched his father skate in pickup games while following the careers of Swedish boyhood idols and National Hockey League standouts like Borje Salming, Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and Nicklas Lidstrom in the process. Despite their notoriety in Sweden, the country's most popular sport isn't ice hockey but bandy. The sport is similar to field hockey, but is played with skates on an icy soccer field.

While bandy is loved by many in Sweden, Schroder's heart has always lied with ice hockey.

Through his father's support and coaching, Schroder honed his skills as time went on and the finesse type of play in Sweden made for an easy adjustment to North America's physical style.

"It's more open over there because of the wider ice sheet," explained Schroder. "There's more of a skilled base at a younger age. Players can bring out their pure hockey skills more instead of being tough and physical all of the time."

While there are considerable differences on the ice, the same can be said of the respective cultures.

"We have a more open liberal view of life than Americans," said Schroder, who speaks three languages (Swedish, English and Spanish) fluently. "We don't have any real social classes, there's no homeless people and not as much fast food as there is in America."

"Sweden has a large fish culture. We eat a lot of herring with vegetables like potatoes and beets," he added. Having stayed in the United States for over three years, Schroder has thoroughly enjoyed his experience living abroad and believes the U.S. is truly the land of opportunity.

"I like it here and want to stay," said Schroder, an international business major and a three-time FSU Dean's Academic Award recipient. "There's more options and opportunities aren't as restricted because of the capitalistic environment. The United States is more globalized and is a leading country in the world."

Following graduation, Schroder is unsure what the future holds for him. He may continue playing hockey or pursue a business career.

One aspect of his life is for certain, he understands the importance of Att vara på rätt ställe på rätt tillfälle. Translation - Being in the right place at the right time.

-by Joe Gorby, FSU Sports Information Director