ORONO, Maine — Soccer is the No. 1 sport in Denmark, where hockey is not a prominent sport.
Even so, Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup developed an interest in hockey when he was just a toddler.
“When I was 2 years old, my dad [Peter] got me a six-piece puzzle of animals playing hockey,” Schmidt-Svejstrup said. “So I got that done and said ‘I want to do this [play hockey].”
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“I kept talking about it for a long time,” Schmidt-Svejstrup said with a grin.
His father eventually looked into the possibility of his son playing hockey and discovered there was an under-6 program.
“I’ve loved it ever since,” said Schmidt-Svejstrup, who is a freshman right wing for the University of Maine.
He is tied for the team lead in scoring after six games with three goals and two assists including the game-tying goal with 1:22 left in the 2-2 overtime tie at the University of Connecticut last Saturday.
UMaine plays host to UMass Lowell Hockey East games Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Schmidt-Svejstrup was a prolific scorer in his native Denmark but faced a crossroads in high school.
“Most guys either sign a pro contract back home or go to Sweden or North America to play. If you want to make it big, you can’t really stay in Denmark,” he said.
He had an opportunity to come to the U.S. as a high school sophomore and attended the South Kent School in Connecticut, where his career took off.
In his first season playing for the South Kent School’s affiliate, the Selects Hockey Academy 16-Unders, he registered 17 goals and 19 assists in 28 games. The following year, he had 40 goals and 19 assists in 23 games.
UMaine associate head coach Ben Guite started recruiting Schmidt-Svejstrup during his junior season.
“I loved it up here [at UMaine], so I committed,” Schmidt-Svejstrup said.
“There was never a doubt in my mind,” he added.
He moved on to the United States Hockey League, and last season was a memorable one. He scored 30 goals and had 24 assists in 54 games for the Fargo Force, which won the Clark Cup as the playoff champion.
Schmidt-Svejstrup also played for the Danish team in the World Junior Championships and had a goal and an assist in five games.
“That’s probably some of the best hockey I’ve ever played. We got beat 8-0, 9-0 by Canada. It was like they had a power play when it was 5-on-5 because we couldn’t deal with them. But is was an unbelievable experience,” Schmidt-Svejstrup said.
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound native of Charlottenlund, Denmark, brings a lot to the table, according to UMaine head coach Red Gendron.
“He can really shoot the puck. He’s big and strong, and he’s a competitor. If somebody confronts him, he has a pretty fierce determination to hang on to [the puck] or, if it’s a 50-50 battle, to win the battle,” Gendron said.
Schmidt-Svejstrup said he always used to shoot a lot in his backyard.
Senior co-captain and defenseman Rob Michel said it is hard to “get him off the puck,” and he plays with a lot of emotion.
“He has made a big impact right away,” said junior center Chase Pearson, Schmidt-Svejstrup’s linemate. “He has one of the best shots in college hockey. I’ve honestly never seen a shot like his.”
The 20-year-old Schmidt-Svejstrup, the oldest of Peter and Natascha Schmidt-Svejstrup’s three children, said it has been an adjustment playing with faster, stronger players in college but that he has benefitted from playing with strong linemates.
“Individually, I’ve been happy with my start but, as a team, we’ve got to get better and keep improving,” Schmidt-Svejstrup said.