Claimed:Jakub Pastrnak: The Fast Lane

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Pastrnak showing off his chest ink days before declaring for the VHL

 

The Fast Lane: Jakub's Backstory

Childhood: Pre-hockey

Not much of young Jakub's life was off the skates, but the brief 4 year period between birth and ice was one of normalcy, to a certain degree. Jakub came out ready to move, and within 9 months was mobile and on his own two feet. This fast-paced growth athletically was encouraging for the young parents Olega and Pavol. The Pastrnak family had a plot of land on their own in the quiet town of Vyskov, Czech Republic, where Olega provided at home and Pavol went into Brno to sell fish. The lake near their house provided some of the finest fish for the Brno suburbs, and Pavol had his young son on mascot duty, luring customers from the other facades of smelly fish from the Mala Hana. Then, Jakub's first winter with the lake frozen came, and the skates were on and he was off.

 

First Taste: Hockey

Jakub fell in love with the ice in his town, and his first winter with the frozen lake provided great teachings of the sport and of life. Pastrnak was teased by those in the grade above him from even this small, 4 years old, and he learned quickly to be good at hockey, you had to survive the trek to the pond rinks. This wasn't helped by Jakub's younger sister, who would later accompany her older brother on treks to the center of the pond. Having someone in the "stands" helped, but it was still hard for Jakub to really break out on his own. He was with his sister, not wrestling with the others. She'd cry home if he so much as hit someone else's stick on the ice, and big bros don't let their sisters cry. Thus, Jakub got quieter and quieter. At a young age, this stinted his Slavic vocabulary, but he would manage in school.

 

He ended up staying at home throughout most of the summers in Vyskov early on, not running to the local shops and swimming in the lake with his teammates. He enjoyed the business of the "dock" his father ran inland of the lake, managing some of the fish and other small stuff. Every winter, however, it would be straight back to the pond, and Pavol or Olega might not see young Jakub for 8, 10, 12 hours a day. He'd always wander back home, however, stick dragging behind him, skates looped around his neck. Looking exhausted, his parents never expected Jakub to complain: he had been outside all day playing, surely there's nothing going on. Building up inside was a fire set to burst out, and as Jakub kept internalizing every hit, every bad penalty, every slur thrown his way, he pushed his reactions to the back of his mind.

 

The Explosion: High School and Beyond

Being in a progressive school district, Jakub was able to go through class as he pleased. Relating hockey to assignments made math easy, and some other classes allowed an unusually quiet Jakub to express himself in ways the skates never could. The essays written on 1968, stories written in alternate universes about Jakub the Journeyman, these all gave way to releasing some of the pressure pent up in the back of a furious player's mind. Here, in the classroom, expression was key. Expression got you grades, advanced you at a good pace, and by 16, the young winger was out with a basic high school education, ready to make his own. Now, finally ready to be on his own, Jakub burst from the small burbs to the big city of Brno. The bustle of the streets gave way to be in a crowd all alone, and Jakub could express himself while being completely numb to some of the consequences.

 

It was here in the urban districts that Jakub started behaving the same way his play was molding on the ice. Running the alleys for now legal marijuana, ecstasy, and cocaine gave Jakub hockey money, as he wasn't good enough to make the team on his own yet. It would be here in the streets that peddling high-grade dope would return with high-grade performances at the local hockey rink. Though he never dabbled himself, this newfound risk took some more of the hockey edge off. It was needed, as the stresses of being a top producer on the ice were translating to his personal life. Not much happens in Brno, and when a 17 year old scores at a goal per game pace, the town takes note. Now, with the spotlight on him, Jakub needed to find a better way to keep playing. This was when he started his own group of players.

 

A group of 6 players (5 skaters and a goalie), Jakub brought his own street line to the public rink scene. Every winter, Pastrnak would play frontman to what was being called the Brno Bandits, the Fleet Freaks. Pacing themselves like a team constantly on the rush, the BBs would rush the puck against any other 6-man line willing to go toe to toe with the big kids. Winning street bets took dirty skills, and it ended up being such an open game due to eventual fatigue that there would be breakaways. This is where Jakub developed his moves, ever waiting for the chance to make the big jump. In order to gain attention, you need to be special, and Jakub had his moves. There was only one guy the BBs wanted on the break, and when Jakub found clean ice, this would happen:

 

Jakub found his way past one of the better netminders of the Czech street game

 

Perfecting this game meant more to these kids than anything else, and soon, VHL scouts were busting down the door to his studio apartment trying to convince him to join the scene.

 

Leaving Home: The Goodbye

Jakub had to go home one last time to tell his family the great news about his career. Learning enough about market value to be his own agent, Jakub signed a letter to enter the VHLM draft and get started, and showed the promise to his parents. Olega, the soft natured one, broke down in tears, seeing her baby all grown up. Pavol, meanwhile, beamed, and with a chuckle, looked at his son, "the success." New tattoo showing through his tank top, Jakub hugged his father in a universal seal of approval, and finally made his way to his younger sister, Aria. She gave him a swift hug and whispered, "Be safe." The older brother took his younger sister's wise words carefully, headed off to Brno for his flight to the States, and began his true calling. From fish dock to fresh ice, Jakub was on the fast track to stardom in the VHL.

[Jericho 917]

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