Kohansky heats up in Miami

Miami Manatees Press Release

Kohansky was born in 1977 in Spain where his father was serving in the military at a Naval Repair Base. And if the timing didn�t go his way, Kohansky might have not ever gotten the chance to play hockey.

Soon after he was born, his father retired from the Navy. They relocated to one of the American hotbeds of hockey, Massachusetts. The young Kohansky followed his older brother�s lead and took to the ice at the young age of four, where he found himself playing right wing as the years went by.

Kohansky became immersed in one of the most successful hockey programs at Mount St. Charles High School, a program that won the Rhode Island State Championship for 25 years in a row. Maintaining that standard of excellence for that length of time for any school is a difficult task. The school is located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and the talent comes from the surrounding areas.

Notable Mount St. Charles Alumni include defenseman Bryan Berard and Mathieu Schneider, and goaltenders Brian Boucher and Garth Snow.

As his four years of high school hockey was coming to a close, it was time for Kohansky to start looking at continuing his hockey playing career. He knew he didn�t have the prototypical size that pro scouts look for in a player, but he knew he had enough talent to play hockey for a major university and get a valued education in the process.

With a natural interest in business, Kohansky started leaning toward Division 1 Brown University, a member of the ECAC Conference that plays against such teams as Cornell, Harvard, North Dakota, Yale and other prestigious colleges.

�My senior year of high school, I talked to a couple of coaches there.� Kohansky said. �Brown was close to home. It was a good area and I liked it a lot. Once I got my grades, I pretty much settled on going to Brown.�

Kohansky played four years of college hockey, playing in 79 games, scoring 22 goals and 49 points. He also was able to graduate with a four year degree in Business Economics, but he decided that he wasn�t ready to hang up his skates just yet.

Maybe it was being born in Europe? Maybe it was the memories of living on a Navy base as a toddler? Whatever it was, Kohansky wasn�t ready to quit playing hockey, so he headed back over the Atlantic to look for a new team to play on.

�I really wanted to go to Europe to play hockey. I felt it was a better fit for me because I am more of a finesse player. I got a good deal to play in Sweden and I thought the hockey would be a little bit better there.�

Just like in North America, there are several different leagues at all different levels of competition for which aspiring players may compete in. Kohansky found himself playing in Division 1 for the Amal SK.

Just under the Swedish Elite League, Division 1 earned itself the title of the �Second League� as the teams primarily played in the smaller Swedish towns and operated with lower budgets than the higher Swedish Elite League.

Even though European hockey is played much differently than the North American or college game, Kohansky found he was able to adjust to the new style after a few games.

�It was tough, but the way I played it was almost similar to their game. I pass more than I shoot, and I like the open ice of the Olympic size rinks. It was all offense with three on twos, two on ones. I was able to fit in pretty well there. Once I got going it wasn�t that bad at all.�

While he quickly got used to the Euro style of the hockey, playing in Sweden presented Kohansky with a common problem. He had to get some help from some of his more multilingual teammates.

�A lot of the players spoke English, but the coach was from Russia and he spoke Swedish and Russian, so I couldn�t talk to him.�

Even though the rinks in Europe are much wider and offer offensive minded players more room to operate, Kohansky quickly re-adjusted when he came back to the smaller North American rinks in 2002. Last season with the Cape Fear FireAntz, he broke out offensively by scoring 23 goals and 61 points.

Kohansky was able to credit his experience playing in Sweden for that particular improvement in his game.

�It definitely helped me offensively in putting the puck in the net. The most I had was 12 goals a year, and last year I put in around 25. It helped me around the net, and mostly it helped me move the puck quicker.�

For a kid who was born in Spain, grew up playing in the harsh winters near Boston, played his college hockey in chilly Rhode Island, and started his professional career in frigid Sweden, it might seem out of place now that Kohansky is now preparing to enjoy the sultry climate of Miami.

�Yeah, it is a big difference when you have to go to the rink to play a game, and you come out wearing shorts and a t-shirt and you are sweating.�

It isn�t just the heat of Miami that Kohansky is feeling. With a new season coming up, Kohansky is feeling the heat to accomplish something he hasn�t done in some time now. He has a simple goal for himself and his teammates for the inaugural season of the Miami Manatees.

�I haven�t been in a playoff game since High school. I went through four years of Brown and they didn�t make the playoffs. I didn�t make the playoffs in Sweden, and in Cape Fear we didn�t make the playoffs. This year I want to go out with a championship!�

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