Team shuffling aside, when Washago native Dave Wrigley reflects on his first season of professional hockey in Europe, it leaves him smiling for the most part.

“It was a great experience and I loved it over there,” said the 28-year-old, during a post-golf conversation recently with Orillia Today.

The former Couchiching Terriers Junior A Hockey Club forward boards a plane Aug. 3 and jets to Germany, where he will begin preparations for his second season of pro action.

Wrigley will open the season with EHC Munich, a Second Division (Bundesliga) team, hoping that he gets a chance to stick for the entire season.

Circumstances dictated a change of teams and movement in Wrigley’s playing life during the 2007-2008 campaign.

Wrigley, a graduate of Mercyhurst College and former East Coast Hockey League player, started the season with Landsberg.

“Then Landsberg ran into money problems so they had to get rid of the high-paid players, which included myself and three other guys,” recalled Wrigley, who collected 36 points in 27 games with the club.

Ultimately, other teams abandoned Landsberg and the team has now been relegated to Third Division status.

At Christmas, the winger landed a playing spot with a Division One team located in Augsburg, a community in the southwest section of Bavaria.

“I played in the top division for the last half of the season. It was a tough situation for me coming in, because I had six points in my first five games,” he said.

He would finish with 10 points in 22 games.

Wrigley realized he was quickly taking ice time away from other Augsburg players who had been on the squad all season, and the player environment went from bad to worse.

“It was a bad rest of the season and I didn’t enjoy going to the rink,” said Wrigley.

Impressed with the points he generated with Landsberg, hockey officials with the Munich club expressed interest in Wrigley and signed him to a one-year contract this summer.

He knows the city of Munich well, as Landsberg is located only a 20-minute drive outside of the city.

“I love the German culture and I was able travel a bit and experience a little bit of Europe. I was snowboarding in Switzerland and Austria. I had a chance to go to Octoberfest in Munich,” he said.

While his grasp of the German language is limited, he has expanded his vocabulary and has also mastered driving around parts of Europe.

“At first it (driving) is a bit scary. But once you get used to it, you end up hating to drive over here (in Canada). It’s a bit faster than what we are used to in this country,” he said.

While in Europe, Wrigley was able to hook up with former Couchiching teammates Jason Pinizzotto and Daryl Bat. Pinizzotto plays in the same German league as Wrigley, while Bat is playing pro hockey in Holland.

“The three of us hung out in Tilburg, Holland and then went up to Amsterdam and spent a few days there. We had a few beers and had a chance to enjoy Europe together, which was nice,” he said.

Played on expansive rinks, with Olympic-sized ice, the calibre of European play impressed Wrigley and it took some time to adjust to the different style.

“It was a good league (Second Division) and it was something I was comfortable playing in. The First Division was tough because there were a lot of ex-NHL players and so the skill level was quite high. It’s hard to get used to,” he said.

Veteran Canadian coach Pat Cortina leads EHC Munich and Wrigley is one of a half-dozen North American players on the roster.