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Pioneers' Borgstrom helps bring Finnish teammate to Denver

It's not if Pioneers sophomore Henrik Borgstrom was lonely.

The University of Denver hockey star won a national championship as a freshman with more than a handful of skilled teammates last season; however, the idea of adding a fellow country-man to the roster was appealing, so he helped make a reunion happen.

The Helsinki, Finland native grew up with reunited teammate Jaakko Heikkinen.

"I believe we were like 5 years old, we started playing hockey in Finland in the same program," Heikkinen said.

The two grew up on the ice wearing team Jokerit sweaters, .

"Year-after-year we played on the same team."

Borgstrom and Heikkinen developed chemistry after playing together for so long in Finland, until it came to a halt.

Believe it or not, Borgstrom, who ended up being a 2016 first round NHL Draft pick, was cut from his team when he was just 15 years old.

"That came as a huge shock to me because we knew how talented he was," Heikkinen said.

After being cut, Borgstrom headed to the rival program HIFK and loved taking it to his former team, Jokerit. Former HIFK players include Washington Capitals' Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild's Mikael Granlund, Chicago Blackhawks' Kimmo Timonen and many more.

"He dangled us many times so I was a bit rattled by that," Heikkinen said.

Known for his silky hands, Borgstrom weaved his way through his former team as a little piece of revenge.

"It was so special because I grew up loving that team, and once I got cut, I absolutely hated them," Borgstrom said.

"I definitely though I would never play with him ever again on the same team, but here we are I guess," Heikkinen said.

Finnish, but not finished, the old friends find each other once again in Denver of all places.

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