Making his Western Hockey League debut at SaskTel Centre on Wednesday, it was hard to miss new Saskatoon Blades centreman Frantisek Dej gliding into the faceoff dot.
All six-foot-five-inches of him matched up against opposing forwards on the Portland Winterhawks.
“I play physical,” said Dej. “I like to play the draws; I’m kind of a two-way player so whatever it takes.”
It took Dej just over one period of play to show Blades fans what that meant, as he tangled up with Winterhawks captain Kyle Chyzowski in front of goaltender Evan Gardner early in the second frame.
What followed was a spirited tilt which saw Dej deliver a series of upper-cuts which injected energy into the SaskTel Centre faithful.
“He dropped the gloves first,” said Dej. “I was not expecting that, but I will take it every day. I think the refs saved him there.”
Flanking Dej on the wing during Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Winterhawks, forward Rowan Calvert got a front row seat to the scrap which he said only solidified the new import’s presence on the team.
“Yeah he’s scary,” said Calvert. “A great guy off the ice, obviously he’s a guy you want on your team. I wouldn’t be dropping the gloves with him.”
Signed by the Blades on Jan. 8, Dej comes to the team after spending the first half of the season playing in Slovakia’s top professional men’s league with HK Dukla Trencin where he registered two assists in 15 games.
Blades head coach Dan DaSilva had heard about Dej’s physical presence, but added it was another thing to see him dive into a fight in his first WHL game.
“I didn’t think he would do it in his first game,” said DaSilva. “I know he kind of mentioned being interested in getting into [a fight]. I was surprised a little bit that it happened in his first game, but not surprised that it happened.”
Saskatoon isn’t Dej’s first stop in Canadian major junior hockey, however, as he dressed for the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League last year where he scored 16 points in 50 games and delivered a clutch overtime winner in Game 2 of Sherbrooke’s first round series against Blainville-Boisbriand.
While Dej left the QMJHL to return to his home country, CHL clubs are permitted to sign former imports from other leagues granted they remain eligible.
More recently, Dej is fresh off his third stint suiting up for Team Slovakia at the World Juniors where he helped the Slovaks to a quarterfinal appearance.
“I was happy when I got that offer,” said Dej. “The experience was amazing. Canada hockey is different and the World Juniors hockey is different, too. I’ll take that experience.”
Dej is expected to become one of Saskatoon’s top centremen the rest of the season following the departure of forwards Brandon Lisowsky, Ben Riche, Misha Volotovskii and Lukas Hansen leading up to the WHL trade deadline.
However, DaSilva said there’s still plenty of work ahead to fully incorporate the import into the lineup.
“I think he just brings a calming presence to our team as well,” said DaSilva. “He’s learning the systems, it’s his first game in the Western Hockey League so there’s stuff to improve on for sure. We’ll do that through video and practice, but it’s a great first impression from him.”
The Blades will look to end a three-game losing streak on Friday night, as they continue their home stand against the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00 p.m.