First Impressions

Culture shock comes in many forms. For international athletes on the Evansville Thunderbolts professional hockey team, several of their biggest “newcomer” moments involved the basics: food, weather, and traffic.

More than half of the 18 athletes carving up the ice for the city’s SPHL team come from outside America. Nine call Canada home, while two hail from Europe. Unlike the group of international residents profiled in the January/February cover story, Bolts players arrive in Evansville each October and make the River City their home for the next six months. Set up with apartments in an East Side complex, many drive their own vehicles, set up a cell phone with an 812 area code, and have the autonomy and free time to explore their temporary home.

Grayson Valente, a 24-year-old defenseman from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who is in his second season with the Bolts, relishes the area’s easy travel time. He recalls being surprised at “how close everything is. It’s not often that you have to drive more than 15 minutes to get where you need to go,” he says.

Conversely, Jordan Simoneau found the roadways hectic.

“I dislike the traffic,” says Simoneau, 26, who joined the Thunderbolts in March 2024. “Coming from a small town and farm, I’m not used to the busy roads.”

However, the gregarious left wing from Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada, is loving the milder weather.

“(It’s) a great change for me. I’m used to freezing cold and lots of snow during the winter,” he says.

He may be in his first season playing the U.S., but for Vili Vesalainen, adjusting to culture shock is old hat. A 27-year-old center from Jyväskylä, Finland, Vesalainen already has played for teams in his home country, plus France, Sweden, and Germany.

Easing his culture shock in Indiana, Vesalainen says his hometown is about the same size as his new city. He also credits his introduction to Evansville to Joe Leonidas, a Canadian defenseman who played 11 games for the Bolts in 2022-23.

“He gave me a good talk about the place, so I knew something,” Vesalainen says. “People here are very social and easy-going. It’s easy to talk to people.”

The Bolts’ other European player is Robin Eriksson, a 23-year-old defenseman from Södertälje, Sweden, who also is in his inaugural season with Evansville. Both he and Vesalainen were consulted for the Bolts’ Feb. 7 theme night spotlighting European hockey hallmarks, like a golden helmet that is given as an award to the best player in the Finnish Liiga league.

If you have found yourself chuckling at the Canadian players’ accents, they’re probably having a good laugh listening to you.

“The biggest culture shock was hearing people’s accents here,” Brady Lynn, a 26-year-old right wing from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, says. Simoneau echoes his teammate, marveling at “being criticized about my Canadian accent while thinking everyone else has a crazy accent.”

The Bolts fill their free time by playing golf — “Evansville has many great courses,” Simoneau remarks — hanging out in Downtown Evansville and along the riverfront, working out, and bonding as teammates.

“We hang out lots as a team in each other’s apartments, whether it’s breakfast club, movie night, or watching sports,” Simoneau says. “We are lucky to have great gym facilities and basketball courts and a swimming pool that make for a fun time with the guys.”

On days off, players enjoy exploring the region, with Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, mentioned as frequent destinations. Still on several players’ bucket lists: Saint Louis, Missouri.

Also on their weekly itinerary is touring the local restaurant scene, hardly surprising for a team of pro athletes in their mid-twenties. Vesalainen and Lynn list coffee shops as some of their usual hangout spots. (For the latter, Best of Evansville award-winner Honey Moon Coffee Co. is a favorite.)

Valenti and Lynn remember their amazement at the food options when they each arrived in the River City. Lynn recalls being impressed with “how good the food is — and how cheap the food is.”

“Evansville has a wide variety of restaurants, so going out for lunch or dinner and trying new foods is great,” Simoneau says.

“I like the variety of food spots. There is a place for anything you’re craving,” Valente adds. “The only challenge is the lack of sidewalks in some areas to get around.”

As for acclimating to Southwestern Indiana, international Bolts validate the Midwest’s reputation for niceness.

What has surprised Lynn is “how welcoming everybody is,” he says. For Simoneau, his favorite part about playing in the U.S. is “the amount that these southern states love hockey,” he says. “It makes me feel like I’m playing back home in Canada.”