from Andrew Streitel of The AHL,

It’s an early, chilly Swedish morning and Pontus Andreasson is already up and about, heading to his part-time job as an electrician at Volvo to work a long shift before going to the rink to fine-tune his skills on the ice.

This was Andreasson’s reality until the end of the 2019-20 season, as the young forward tried to make a name for himself in the Swedish hockey ranks.

Fortunately for him, things panned out and Andreasson was able to drop the part-time gig to focus all of his attention on his life-long dream of becoming an NHL player.

“It was fun but also very difficult,” the current Grand Rapids Griffins forward said of his work at Volvo. “You get up early in the mornings and have long days at work and then you go play hockey at night. “It was hard but it motivated me to get better so I could just play hockey.”

Several years before breaking from his trade, Andreasson was making his way through the junior ranks of Swedish hockey. The Munkedal native found himself in the Frolunda Indians HC youth program and had a breakout season as a 19-year-old in 2017-18: After just totaling three points in 40 games, Andreasson exploded for 45 points (13 goals, 32 assists) in just 44 appearances a year later.

“When I came to Frolunda in the juniors, [hockey] became more serious and I trained a lot harder. I trained more often, lifted heavier weights and practiced every day,” said Andreasson. “That is when I turned the switch and realized that I could be someone in hockey.”

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