| David Jiricek | HC Plzen | International | R | D | 6’3″ | 190 | Spokane Chiefs | 2020 | Klatovy, CZE | 2003 | 2021-2022: A |
Ian Moran’s thoughts: He’s big. He’s strong and he has excellent defensive anticipation. Jiricek seems to have a knack for getting his stick on everything. I recently watched him play versus Team Sweden in the Euro Hockey Tour and there was a play where he got a stick to the mouth and he somehow lost his stick. He showed the awareness to collapse to his net front where he called out for his forward to switch sticks with him. Not only did he play with his forward’s stick, but he cleanly knocked down a sauce pass and then floated a lob to the far face-off circles that allowed his entire Czechia linemates to make a clean change. It might not seem like a bug thing, but he kept the game’s momentum in Czechia’s favor and he did not lose focus after getting a stick to the chops. This kid is going to pay.
U20 World Jr Championship: Team Czechia vs Team Canada, December 27, 2021: In the 6-3 loss to Team Canada Jiricek earned 8:52 in TOI (Injured his leg with 12:57 left in the 2nd), including 0:27 while on the power play where he earned the primary assist on Pavel Novak’s goal after throwing beautiful sauce to him for a one-timer. During puck retrievals Jiricek worked to be an outlet for his teammates. He showed a clean first touch when receiving passes and he moved his feet to create passing lanes once the puck was on his stick. In the neutral zone he showed the confidence to play with a tight gap and used his long reach to force poor decisions. We liked the angles he used when forcing opponents near the redline because he left them with little choice but to dump it in. Jiricek was very aggressive in the offensive zone looking to pinch whenever possible. Offensively he joined the rush at appropriate times and showed the understanding that he was involved to provide options, not limit them by over skating the rush. In the defensive zone he showed an impressive stick that he seemed to get on every pass or attempted shot. At the time of his injury the game was tied 3-3. Jiricek is a very impactful defender with a bright future.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images