On Thursday, we published an interview with French national team Head Coach Dave Henderson. Now we've got one with one of his top defencemen from the recent World Championships -- 24-year-old Yohann Auvitu, who has played in Finland the past six seasons and recently transferred from JYP Jyväskyla to IFK Helsinki.

by Pavel Kuba

You've played in Finland since you were 19 years old. How tough was the first season there?
The start was really scary. I didn’t speak English very well and no Finnish at all, of course. Anyway, I’ve been working very hard on my on-ice abilities, I've improved my physical conditioning and now I am where I am. I can use these experiences also with the national team now, which I'm very happy about.

How did you manage the language? Are you able to speak now after six years?
I've worked really hard and I've improved, but there are still plenty of mistakes, especially when I speak with the Finnish journalists.

Six years in one country is a long time. Do you still feel like a Frenchman?
Of course. You have a point and it’s true that sometimes I feel like a Finn. It’s strange, because France and Finland are very different countries.

All this time, you’ve been playing for Jyväskylä, with whom you’ll play in the CHL starting in August. What do you think about that?
It’s an amazing project for European hockey. There isn’t an opportunity like this every year to play against the best clubs from Sweden or the Czech Republic. It’s certainly positive for the game and I hope, we’ll hang in there as long as possible.

You’ve played in the European Trophy with your club the past few years. How different do you think it will be?
It seems very similar, but I don’t think it really will be. The CHL is much more prestigious for the clubs and it won’t be just another pre-season tournament.

Your team has been drawn into a group with Red Bull Salzburg, Kloten Flyers and HV71 Jönköping. What do you think about your opponents?
I was hoping to get a Czech team in the group, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. We played against Sparta Prague last season. It‘s a club with a rich history and the game was awesome. I’m looking forward to our games against Jönköping. We’ll have a lot of motivation to play well against the Swedes and show them how good our team is.

NOTE: At the time of the interview, Auvitu was a member of JYP Jyväskyla. Since that time, he has transferred to another Finnish CHL club, IFK Helsinki, who will play in a group with Skellefteå AIK, Krefeld Pinguine and Sønderjyske Vojens.