Tomas Andrlik looked beyond the rink to acquire some of his hockey assets.
Already among the cream of the crop among defencemen in his native Czech Republic when he was picked 37th overall by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2013 CHL import draft, Andrlik decided if he was going to join the Western Hockey League he needed something else to give him an edge.
So he signed up for boxing lessons and began practicing mixed martial arts.
Having grown up playing hockey in Europe, where fighting in hockey is forbidden, it's still part of the game in North America and Andrlik came prepared.
"I like to skate with the puck and move the puck and I like physical play," said Andrlik, 19, a six-foot, 189-pound defenceman, acquired by the Prince George Cougars in a trade from the Raiders. "I don't mind fighting for my teammates. I've fought six times already this season. The European game is more skill, it's not a hard game. If I fought there I would get a suspension."
Andrlik missed three weeks with a high-ankle sprain and made his debut with the Cougars last weekend, playing in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Cranbrook.
"That was a tough break, it was the first time in my life I didn't play because of an injury," said Andrlik. "I hurt it on an outdoor rink when I was skating with my billet's kids in Prince Albert and hit something on the ice and twisted it. I'm happy I can play again but those three games on the road weren't good. We had hard games, hopefully we'll win some now. It's frustrating for us, we are trying hard but we keep losing."
The Cougars are now on a 10-game losing streak heading into tonight's game against the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Andrlik played for Pilzen HC from the time he was eight until he came to Canada. As a 17-year old, he was part of the Czech national team in 2012, and played against high-profile Canadians Nate MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Max Domi and Connor McDavid at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. Canada won the tournament that year and beat the Czechs 5-2 in the semifinals but Andrlik says his team drew first blood with a win over Canada in an pre-tournament exhibition game.
He also played in 2012 in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the World Junior A Challenge.
Cougars coach Mark Holick plans to pair Andrlik on the blueline with captain Sam Ruopp once Ruopp finishes his five-game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit last Jan. 20 against Everett. Ruopp will sit out tonight's game at CN Centre against Seattle and should return for the rematch Saturday.
"He's a big body who plays the game hard," said Holick. "He's not going to quarterback our power play or anything like that, but if he does get a chance he has a pretty heavy shot. We want him to defend hard and be physical. We want our D to be a lot harder to play against, especially around the net front.
"He played his first games on the last trip and had a couple nights where he was OK and maybe one when he wasn't so good, but he's been off for awhile and he'll need some games to find his timing He's a strong kid and he's not afraid."
Andrlik speaks a Czech dialect that David Soltes, the Cougars other import from Slovakia, understands well. Soltes still struggles to understand and speak English.
"He's happy I'm here and we have some fun now," said Andrlik. "It's easier for him because he is asking me to translate everything. I learned English last year because I was in Prince Albert by myself [Leon Draisatl of Germany was the other Raiders' import] and I had to learn."
