habsfan
10-20-2008, 11:21 AM
Article from Syracuse.com, prior to Dahm's rough start on the weekend...
Crunch goalie Dahm is ready for the NHL
by syracuse.com Friday October 17, 2008, 9:10 AM
By Lindsay Kramer
Staff writer A few years ago, young goalie Sebastian Dahm, then about 16, was getting ready to leave his home in Copenhagen and go play in a league in Sweden.
The man holding the door wide open for him was his father, Kim. It's not that the older Dahm wanted to get rid of his son. It's just that Kim played it too close to the vest in his hockey career, and he didn't want his son to make the same mistake.
"He said, 'It's a really big thing for you. You go, we love you no matter what happens, and if it doesn't work out, you come back,' " said Sebastian, now 21.
Dahm has indeed been back, but not for any great length of time in the winter. The momentum started by that slight nudge from Dad carried him from Sweden to junior hockey in the OHL and now to the Syracuse Crunch, where he is trying to get noticed in a role as the backup goalie.
The first impressionwas good, and the second one wasn't too shabby either. The 5-foot-11 Dahm (pronounced "dam") blanked Binghamton in an exhibition game and then stopped all 15 shots he faced in the third period against Rochester in the home-opener Saturday.
The undrafted free agent may have found the perfect vortex in the organization's swirl of netminders. Anticipated Crunch No. 1 Steve Mason will need to be eased back in later this month after recovering from knee surgery. Blue Jackets starter Pascal Leclaire has yet to show he can stay healthy for a whole season.
There could be some upward mobility available for an opportunistic newcomer.
"I don't really think about the depth chart," he said. "I worry about having my angles in practice, all those small things so when I get in there, I do all those small things right. If I do that, eventually the coaches will pick me. I understand there are some good goalies in the system. If I didn't believe in my goal, I wouldn't go for it."
That's the resolve that first put Dahm between the pipes. Hockey isn't very big in Denmark, but he loved the sport from the start. When he was around 6, the goalie on his youth team wasn't playing very well. Dahm tapped him on the shoulder and said, Hey, mind if I give this a whirl?
"I think I got a shutoutthe first game," Dahm recalled. "I said (to himself), 'You don't have to chase the puck, it comes to you. You can play the whole game.' I ended up getting pretty good."
The talent was in Dahm's bloodlines. Kim was a pretty good national player in his day, and wound up as a prominent coach for his country. He, too, once had the chance to leave home to play, but unlike his son years later, didn't want to take the leap. Sebastian said his dad always regretted that.
Sebastian was headstrong the other way, determined to get his chunk of history. In 2006, he was the goalie for a Danish squad that qualified for the top level of World Junior Championship play for the first time ever.
"It was very big. We don't have a lot of players (in Denmark)," Dahm said. "After we got into the A pool in juniors, a lot of young kids in Denmark say to their parents, 'Hey, I want to play hockey and not soccer.' "
Dahm's hockey career might have ended before it ever hit the pros if he wasn't lucky enough to have a good teammate on Niagara of the OHL. Columbus stopped in to watch that team and track the progress of prospect Stefan Legein.
The Blue Jackets' attention kept turning to the feisty technician in net. When the organization needed a No. 5 goalie as a reserve for the Crunch, Dahm seemed a reasonable gamble.
"He catches your eye.He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he battles," said Chris MacFarland, assistant GM of Columbus. "At his size, he has to be technically sound to stop pucks. Then you throw in that competitive streak."
That trait stops short of tunnel vision. Dahm speaks five languages (English, Danish, Swedish, French and German) and also studies topics ranging from finance to aerospace engineering.
Stability has a place in Dahm's world. He refuses to live out of a suitcase, for instance, settling into his downtown hotel room with his clothes neatly unpacked and all his family photos arranged with care.
You can take part of your past with you, he thinks. It's just that when it's time to move on to something better, you can't become stuck in it.
"There's a lot of young players coming right now. Since I'm not drafted, I'm going to have to take a different route," he said. "It doesn't matter when. I'm going to make it. If I have to be 30, that's OK. You can't put down a plan. I'm not saying all this to be cocky. I'm 100 percent positive I'll make it to the NHL one day."
Lindsay Kramer can be reached at 470-2151.
Crunch goalie Dahm is ready for the NHL
by syracuse.com Friday October 17, 2008, 9:10 AM
By Lindsay Kramer
Staff writer A few years ago, young goalie Sebastian Dahm, then about 16, was getting ready to leave his home in Copenhagen and go play in a league in Sweden.
The man holding the door wide open for him was his father, Kim. It's not that the older Dahm wanted to get rid of his son. It's just that Kim played it too close to the vest in his hockey career, and he didn't want his son to make the same mistake.
"He said, 'It's a really big thing for you. You go, we love you no matter what happens, and if it doesn't work out, you come back,' " said Sebastian, now 21.
Dahm has indeed been back, but not for any great length of time in the winter. The momentum started by that slight nudge from Dad carried him from Sweden to junior hockey in the OHL and now to the Syracuse Crunch, where he is trying to get noticed in a role as the backup goalie.
The first impressionwas good, and the second one wasn't too shabby either. The 5-foot-11 Dahm (pronounced "dam") blanked Binghamton in an exhibition game and then stopped all 15 shots he faced in the third period against Rochester in the home-opener Saturday.
The undrafted free agent may have found the perfect vortex in the organization's swirl of netminders. Anticipated Crunch No. 1 Steve Mason will need to be eased back in later this month after recovering from knee surgery. Blue Jackets starter Pascal Leclaire has yet to show he can stay healthy for a whole season.
There could be some upward mobility available for an opportunistic newcomer.
"I don't really think about the depth chart," he said. "I worry about having my angles in practice, all those small things so when I get in there, I do all those small things right. If I do that, eventually the coaches will pick me. I understand there are some good goalies in the system. If I didn't believe in my goal, I wouldn't go for it."
That's the resolve that first put Dahm between the pipes. Hockey isn't very big in Denmark, but he loved the sport from the start. When he was around 6, the goalie on his youth team wasn't playing very well. Dahm tapped him on the shoulder and said, Hey, mind if I give this a whirl?
"I think I got a shutoutthe first game," Dahm recalled. "I said (to himself), 'You don't have to chase the puck, it comes to you. You can play the whole game.' I ended up getting pretty good."
The talent was in Dahm's bloodlines. Kim was a pretty good national player in his day, and wound up as a prominent coach for his country. He, too, once had the chance to leave home to play, but unlike his son years later, didn't want to take the leap. Sebastian said his dad always regretted that.
Sebastian was headstrong the other way, determined to get his chunk of history. In 2006, he was the goalie for a Danish squad that qualified for the top level of World Junior Championship play for the first time ever.
"It was very big. We don't have a lot of players (in Denmark)," Dahm said. "After we got into the A pool in juniors, a lot of young kids in Denmark say to their parents, 'Hey, I want to play hockey and not soccer.' "
Dahm's hockey career might have ended before it ever hit the pros if he wasn't lucky enough to have a good teammate on Niagara of the OHL. Columbus stopped in to watch that team and track the progress of prospect Stefan Legein.
The Blue Jackets' attention kept turning to the feisty technician in net. When the organization needed a No. 5 goalie as a reserve for the Crunch, Dahm seemed a reasonable gamble.
"He catches your eye.He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he battles," said Chris MacFarland, assistant GM of Columbus. "At his size, he has to be technically sound to stop pucks. Then you throw in that competitive streak."
That trait stops short of tunnel vision. Dahm speaks five languages (English, Danish, Swedish, French and German) and also studies topics ranging from finance to aerospace engineering.
Stability has a place in Dahm's world. He refuses to live out of a suitcase, for instance, settling into his downtown hotel room with his clothes neatly unpacked and all his family photos arranged with care.
You can take part of your past with you, he thinks. It's just that when it's time to move on to something better, you can't become stuck in it.
"There's a lot of young players coming right now. Since I'm not drafted, I'm going to have to take a different route," he said. "It doesn't matter when. I'm going to make it. If I have to be 30, that's OK. You can't put down a plan. I'm not saying all this to be cocky. I'm 100 percent positive I'll make it to the NHL one day."
Lindsay Kramer can be reached at 470-2151.