Greg Blais – Flying high in Bergen

BERGEN,NORWAY- You may remember a few months back, PHN carried a piece about Canadian goaltender and former NCAA star Greg Blais and his search for a club. Well, partially thanks to PHN, Blais did indeed find the club he was looking for.

Initially Blais signed in the SPHL with the Huntsville Havoc in Alabama but when that didn’t work out he was quickly snapped up by Pål Erik Glomsaas, player-coach of the Bergen Flyers in the Norwegian first division. I asked Blais to tell the story of how the move to Norway came about. “Early in the summer I went back home to the Soo (Sault Ste Marie,Ontario,Canada) where my friends and team mates from growing up get together to play summer hockey and generally have some laughs,” Blais said  The Soo is well known for producing hockey greats like Phil and Tony Esposito, Ron Francis, Craig Hartsberg and Dan Cloutier it still churns out quality players with at least one going all the way to the top each year. “One of my buddies from growing up is current Pittsburgh Penguin, Tyler Kennedy and it was great to hear about his season. We had a lot of fun in the summer, but unfortunately I picked up an injury which ruled me out of the first six weeks of the European season, which as you know, is where I wanted to be play,” Blais said  “I signed instead for the Huntsville Havoc in the SPHL, six goaltenders were invited to camp and in the end just one was to remain with the team. Although I was initially disappointed at not staying, my disappointment was short lived as I was delighted to be offered a job with the Bergen Flyers in Norway.” I asked Blais to comment on how he has settled in and found playing in Norway. “Norway is a beautiful country, the people here are friendly and supportive and mostly everyone can speak English which is great as my Norwegian is not up to much, they care passionately about their team and look after us well,” Blais said  “The coaching staff and management are particularly understanding of the fact that I have family in the UK and they don’t mind me flying home for a few days if we have some time off, Of course the other benefit of being in Norway is the one hour time difference with the UK,” Blais said  “I get to see my son, Brody, on web cam every day which I couldn’t do in Huntsville with the 10 hour time difference. The hockey in Norway is great too, and the league is very competitive.” Blais team struggled in the early part of the season and were lying 13th out of 15 in their league. Since his arrival they have climbed to ninth place and with half the season remaining Blais is hoping they can continue to push further up the table. “It’s been a tough season, but we are doing what we can and working hard, the club here has a proud history and the fans deserve to see us higher in the table,” Blais said  “I am playing well myself and I am happy with my performances so I can’t complain about that. It does help your game when you are comfortable with your surroundings and the support you get from your club, team mates and fans.” “Recently my coach, Pål Erik Glomsaas, signed player John Wikstrøm as his player assistant coach. John has plenty of pro experience having played two full seasons in the AHL, so with the addition of Wikstrøm our team is shaping up and things are looking very promising for the years to come,” Blais said  “We are hoping to build from where we are now, and give Bergen something to cheer about come the end of the season.”
I asked Blais to sum up what his future holds. “My main priority is for my hockey career to keep going strong for as long as possible but for me to keep it balanced with a happy home life…that can be quite a challenge as I am sure you can imagine,” Blais said  “Bergen has given me the opportunity to have both and I plan to be back with the Flyers for next season,” C ontact the author at Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com