Czechia rearguard Jacob Vanecek transferred to Tri-City to get adjusted to the smaller ice surfaces that the North American game plays on, and was working to transition to the English language along with the game. A solidly built defender who might seem like les of an attacker than some, but he controls his teams play with reads up-ice and generates offense to and through fowards. Plays on both the power play and penalty-kill. showed of fhis one-timer with Tri-City this season and displays a good two-way game. Supports the offensive game, with quick North-South skating. Although he hasn’t shown a consistent offensive impact, he is sturdy, aggressive and checkers bounce off him. He limits the space he gives attackers, and if he didn’t seem alwaya see to be in a hurry, I would say he has high success at establishing body position and using poke checks and violent stick lifts to disprupt looks. He is a defensive stallwart who is still in development, but there may be a payoff when he reaches matuartion level. Longer developmental project who might have second pair abilities as he grows his game.
–Bill Placzek
