For Levin, the opportunity to travel to a country that doesn't have the same kind of heavy tradition of hockey as his homeland is thrilling, and he thinks fondly of his time spent in Romania in the off-season, a few years ago, when he helped direct some exercises for 12-year-olds and instantly became a star in the eyes of the town's kids. This time, though, even though Japan doesn't formally have a league of its own, they still have exported many talents to the SHL, and even won the IIHF Gold about a decade ago. Levin revels in this opportunity to play in front of more "neutral" fans, that have less of an attachment to the teams playing in front of them, because it means that he can let his game speak for itself - if you work hard and show them what high level hockey can be like on a regular basis, you can win over new fans, either for your team (which would work very well, seeing as there's a heavy nippo-american contingent in San Francisco) or for the league as a whole. More people who watch and love the game of hockey means more players and higher levels of competition in the future - and that is something that Levin would love to see at some point, even after his potential retirement.

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