The event Monday was a pilot of a program overseen by the Stockholm Ice Hockey Federation that will perform outreach through the city's school to introduce the children of those who recently immigrated to Sweden to hockey in a fun and inexpensive way. The equipment for the clinics will be provided as part of the support by the NHL and NHLPA.
"These kids don't have the natural way into the ice hockey," said Carina Oddsberg, the operating manager of the Stockholm Ice Hockey Federation, the largest of the 22 regional federations across the country. "We are very much looking forward to getting some new groups into our ice hockey program."
The initiative will bridge the gap to children who aren't introduced to the sport in more traditional ways, specifically a family member or friend that had played it previously.
"They have a dream of one day playing hockey and we are making dreams come true, [which] is always a good thing," Joseph said.
Oddsberg said the presence of NHL players as guest instructors sent an important message to everyone involved in the pilot event of this program, which begins in earnest in January.
"I think it is very important that you can see they are supporting our project and send the signal that everybody is welcome to ice hockey," Oddsberg said. "You can see they want to support the grassroots hockey in Stockholm. It's exciting to see them get on the ice and take care of the kids. We also appreciate so much the support of the NHL and NHLPA on helping us highlight this important upcoming initiative."