No matter the player or the path he took on his way to the National Hockey League, it's always a special moment when he scores his first NHL goal. For 29-year-old Flyers forward Rodrigo Abols, however, scoring his first goal on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, the moment was perhaps even a little sweeter.
The Latvian center made his NHL debut on January 21 against the Detroit Red Wings, culminating a journey that has taken him around the hockey world. He returned to North America this season to take one last crack at fulfilling his lifelong dream playing in the NHL. With Ryan Poehling sidelined by an upper body injury, Abols has thus far made the most of his recall opportunity.
"It's not your ordinary debut when you have a wife and a three-year-old son behind the stands cheering you on for your [pregame] solo lap. Hopefully, I can inspire someone," Abols said.
"I always looked at Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who actually came here to Philly as well. His was kind of a similar story. He went to Sweden and came over here then carved out a good NHL career."
As Abols referenced, former Flyers center/winger Bellemare relocated from his native France to play in Sweden. At age 29, Bellemare signed a one-year contract with the Flyers and earned a spot on the NHL roster. Thus began a 700-game National Hockey League career.
The well-traveled Abols started out in the KHL for his hometown Dinamo Riga. From there, he played North American junior hockey in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawk. He played well enough to be drafted by the Vancouver Canucks with the 184th overall pick of the 2016 Entry Draft, before going to Quebec with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
There was no NHL contract in the offing for the 6-foot-4 center, so he spent two seasons in Sweden at the SHL (top pro) and Allsvenskan (minor league) levels before returning to North America to try to work his way up the minor league ladder. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Abols split time between the ECHL and American Hockey League.
From there, Abols went back to Sweden and established himself as a two-way forward with a deft touch around the net for the next four seasons. The scouting report on the big center was that he possessed strong hockey sense, quick hands and a diligent work ethic but was held back from an NHL career because of below-average skating skills.
Undaunted, Abols signed as a free agent with the Flyers organization this past offseason. He struggled a bit during the preseason but soon readjusted at the AHL level with the Phantoms. In 34 games with Ian Laperriere's club, Abols tallied nine goals and 19 points.
Since his recall to the Flyers, Abols has primarily played center but also spent some time at left wing. His goal through a Nicolas Deslauriers screen early in the first period against Utah HC came as a huge relief to the entire Flyers team after the club had been shut out in each of the three previous games. Abols has had at least one or two scoring chances in most of the matches he's played thus far, but the one that went in came at an important moment for the club itself.
"It was special, obviously. Better than I imagined. For me, being here is a huge privilege that I don't take for granted. Waking up, when you're in the NHL, it's a great day to start," Abols said after the Utah game.
"I just try to put my work boots on. No matter how many minutes they want me to play, whether it's five or 10 minutes, I'll be out there and try to help the team win."
On Thursday' night against the Washington Capitals, Abols played left wing rather than center. In the second period, he generated a pretty assist on a tic-tac-toe goal sequence finished off at the back post by 20-year-old rooke Matvei Michkov.
One of the unique aspects of Abols' story is his ability to communicate with a wide variety of teammates. From his years in North America and Sweden, he speaks fluent (and nearly unaccented) English and Swedish. In addition to his native Latvian, he also speaks fluent Russian.
So far in his brief stay with the Flyers, Abols has been able (no pun intended) to put three of his four spoken languages to use. Most notably, his ability to speak Russian to Michkov has helped the two form a quick connection. Abols also spoke some Swedish with Olle Lycksell, although English communication would not have been a problem in that case.
"Obviously, your play on the ice and with your teammates is the No. 1 thing but I do think it's helpful when you can speak to people in their language.There's a lot of non-verbal communication in hockey but I think it helps with the comfort level," Abols said.
