Ronja Savolainen is heading to into the unknown with the PWHL's Ottawa Charge. She talks about taking that step, about becoming an advocate, and her future.
Ronja Savolainen is heading to into the unknown with the PWHL's Ottawa Charge. She talks about taking that step, about becoming an advocate, and her future.
Finnish defender Ronja Savolainen was drafted 7th overall by the Ottawa Charge. We spoke to her while she gets ready for the season in her “second home” of Luleå, Sweden, where she played for eight years with the SDHL defending champions.
Luleå and the SDHL just started their first games this past weekend. Is it hard to watch them get back in action when you're not with them anymore?
Yeah, it’s been pretty tough. In the beginning when we came here, I was like, ‘it sucks to be here. I just want to be with the team, have fun, and be with the girls, just laughing every day.’ You get there, and you have the schedule in front of you, and you know what to do. And now it’s up to you to get up and go to the gym, go on the ice, and you see the others you’ve played with for eight years having fun on the ice and getting things going and getting those games. So it was pretty tough to watch them. I think it’s going to get tougher to watch them live, but I can be their biggest supporter now, and cheer for them, and hope they win the championship. So yeah, it’s tough, but also nice to be there and cheer for them.
Can you tell us about what that draft day was like with your friends and teammates as you each got drafted? And how will it feel to play against each of them on different teams?
It was a big day. All of us were super nervous when we woke up. We didn’t want to just sit down; we needed to do something to get the day off and wait for the evening, just to know where we were going to play. We were so nervous. I think all of us had shaky legs, just shaking the whole body. It’s pretty hard with the language and everything, when we saw there would be an interview afterward where everyone hears you talk, you’re a little nervous, we were almost too nervous.
But it was a big day, and a dream come true day. I’m so happy I got to share it with those two people, it was an amazing trip with [Daniela Pejsova] and Noora [Tulus]. We were nervous, but being there with each other made it easier. We could go back to each other, take a breath, and remind ourselves it was a big day. Finally, we get to know where we’d play next season. It was great, but also sad that we didn’t get drafted on the same teams, but we already knew that wouldn’t happen. But it’s going to be nice to meet each other, maybe give a little hit to them. No, I mean, it’s awesome to play against them. It’s going to be more challenging against Noora because she’s a forward or center. She has a lot of talent, so I need to have my brain and my legs going because she has a lot of talent and she’s so smart. You never know what she’s getting up to or the next thing she’ll do next out there.
I want to ask about Noora a little bit. You started playing with her when you were 16. You’ve played with her on Team Finland too. Have you ever played against her, except in practice?
Never, actually. No, never. So this will be the first time. It’s going to be hard because we’ve always been best friends out of hockey too, always hanging out and calling each other when there’s something on our minds. So I’m happy she’s in the same timezone, so we can just call each other and help each other with the journey there too.
But yeah, it’s going to be tough not having her on the same team. She’s an awesome teammate, always been there for me, and of course I think she’ll still be there for me, and I will for her. We’re always used to sitting with each other in the locker room, and now she won’t be there. It’s going to be sad, but life is life! Hopefully, in the future, we’ll be on the same team again. At least we’ll still be on the same national team, so that’s lucky me.
Yeah, and playing against Daniela, you know, I know how she plays. She loves having the puck, and I think we’re going to meet in the corners. She’s a D who loves to take the puck up and be there and dangerous, almost like a forward. You can tell when she gets the puck that she’s everywhere, and that’s great for a defender. It’s going to be hard to compete against her because she’s also very strong, and you never know what she’s doing next. It’s going to be both nice and hard to face her.
And of course, we have to ask about the new Ottawa Charge name and logo. What do you think?
I love it. Ottawa Charge. I mean, we’re always charging, ready, so I think that’s perfect. I like the logo too. I actually didn’t even know we were supposed to change all these things. I’m confused, I was just like, I’m going to play there, that’s all I know. It’s going to be the new logo and name. I was like, really? That was perfect timing to finally get our own logos and names for the teams. I mean, it’s great. I love the logo and the name.
Do you know any of the players on Ottawa?
I don’t think there are any that I’ve played with. I know a few Czech players a little bit, other than that, I don’t know anyone. But it’ll be nice–Anna Meixner (from Austria) is there. She’s been playing in Brynäs for many years, so I know her. We’ve been texting, and hopefully, we’ll be roommates.
I also wanted to ask about something you’ve spoken about before—your mental health and ADHD, and how you work with that. And congratulations for that and thank you for speaking up about it. What can you tell us about what that's like and why you decided to speak up?
I think it was harder when I was younger because I didn't really know how to be and how to, you know, act. It was just like people were just trying to tell me, "Be quiet, sit down, and don't move" and everything. I have a hard time concentrating, and I always want to do something. There’s always something on my mind coming up. Trying to listen to what the coach is saying about a drill or whatever, and I’m trying to watch, and suddenly I’m thinking about yesterday’s food or something. It’s just going around and around.
As a hockey player, there’s always a lot going on, a lot of things you need to learn. During practices, I find it super hard to just be there. I need to talk to someone all the time, and if I don’t do that, then probably something’s on my mind. I don’t really remember when I first told the media about it, but I think it was because of a coach. They asked if I wanted to take any medicine. I said no, because I thought it would make me too calm, and I’d lose myself during hockey. And of course, getting older, you kind of know when you need to be like, okay, now put your extra focus on just concentrating and be quiet and just be there. And that's something where I just had to learn, you know, being older and, you know, just having those situations just need to handle those, you know, when you get the pressure that it's not getting too much, then you just like kind of always think.
So that's kind of something that just like when I'm having fun, that's something when I know I'm relaxed, I can just be myself. But at the same time, I'm not like, kind of it's not going around my brain and everything, but I mean, it was just like easy to say that I have ADHD and I'm just having a hard time concentrating. And that's something that the coach needs to know because in the beginning when I didn't tell them, they were just like, ‘What's wrong with you, why are you not listening? you’re just going around and just like, that's disrespectful.’ And I'm like, No, no, no, I didn’t even know. I didn't recognize I was doing that. So sorry. That was just me doing it without knowing I was doing it.
When I got older, it was just being honest to the coaches and people around. Like, I do want to listen, but I feel like I need to just go around and see what's happening there, too. I'm still listening. But when it's too much happening everywhere, I need to kind of handle it and just see what's everywhere. But yeah, in the beginning it was hard. Now it's pretty easy. And also, you get tired more. When I was younger. I could just like, run everywhere and didn't really have the limits. You just went until [you hit] the wall and now you need to sit down. So, I mean, just talking about it made it much easier so they can kind of understand if I do something weird or talk too much or not being there kind of thing.
So, once you get signed, when are you planning the trip over? Have you got your living situation sorted out yet?
I think the plan is – we also have a tournament in the beginning of November, so the plan is to be there and get a few games and practices so it's easier to come to training camp. But if I'm not going to be there, I think I'm going to come over just a week before you need to be there. But if I can plan it by myself, I hope I'm going to be with the national team, get the games and then come there just a few days before the training camp and get started. So that's what my plan looks like. But it's pretty open yet. I don't really know anything but I hope I'm going to be with the national team first.
So many new things! I hope you can take it in and enjoy it.
Yeah, it will be fine. There are a lot of people who will help, so it makes it easier. So it will be nice, I can’t wait. I‘ve’ just been settled eight years in the same spot, so it's awesome to get something new and, you know, the culture and everything is going to be new. So that's going to be awesome even though it's going to be hard in the beginning. But I love that. I love challenging stuff.
See the full interview with Savolainen on the Puck Drop podcast.