Kevin Fiala paying his dues in short order...

I think one of the keys to the Nashville Predators most recent success has been the presence of forward Kevin Fiala. So expect to see him back in Nashville tomorrow (March 29, 2015) on emergency recall, but then sent back to AHL Milwaukee before the game against the Calgary Flames. I think the Predators see Fiala having a good chance of making the big club next season out of training camp. However, since he only joined Nashville's farm team this year after his season with HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League ended, he won't truly be ready for the NHL if he doesn't have enough frequent-flyer miles to his credit. He needs to pay his dues, after all! LOL!

The above links to HV71 and the SHL are in Swedish, although there is an English blog on the SHL website. HV71 is based in the lakeside city of Jönköping. The name of the team comes from the 1971 merger of former teams Huskvarna IF - from the twin city now part of the greater Jönköping Municipality (and birthplace of the Husqvarna company in 1689) - and Vätterstads IK - based in Jönköping and named after Vättern lake. Here's are links to the Wikipedia pages on HV71 and the SHL for more information on the team and the league.

And now back to Kevin Fiala... While his parents are both Czech, he was born in Uzwil, St. Gallen, Switzerland. His father Jan Hans played in the Swiss National League and now coaches youth hockey in Uzwil. Aside from being a dual Czech-Swiss citizen, Kevin speaks Czech (like his parents), French and German (two of Switzerland's four official languages), Swedish, and English. And he's apparently quite fluent in all. (Oh, the shortcomings of a North American upbringing...)

In 2014, for Switzerland, Kevin became only the third person to play in the IIHF World Under-18 Championships, World Junior Championships and World Championships in a single hockey season. Previously, in 2003, former Montreal Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn and forward Vadim Karaga both played for Belarus in all three tournaments. (Kostitsyn was last seen in the NHL with Nashville during the 2012 playoffs - most of the time *snark* - and Karaga, aside from one season in the OHL, played his entire career in Belarusian leagues.)

Anyhoo...