 A native of Finland's capital city of Helsinki, Söderholm played in the HIFK youth system in the early- and mid-1990s before taking his game to North America.From 1995 to 1997, he attended Trinity College School in Ontario, then returned to HIFK for the 1997–98 season and headed over the pond again to enroll at the University of Massachusetts.He served as team captain for the Minutemen his senior year (2001–02).