It’s nearly every young hockey player’s dream to make it to the big leagues, and the step prior to that is finding your way on to a major junior roster, most often being the CHL. The CHL isn’t just exclusive to Canadians and Amercians though, each year an import draft is held and teams can select from a crop of players from Russia, Belarus, etc. .

Rodwin Dionicio of Switzerland was selected 18th overall by the Niagara IceDogs in 2021 and has just touched down in Canada to begin his major junior career in North America.

Myself, Kai Farenholtz along with Rodwin discussed his time leading up to the draft, representing his nation at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and settling in to his new life in Niagara where he begins his journey w/ the IceDogs!