A Long Way From Home (Biography On The Life Of Mathew Tocco) [2/2]

[Matmenzinger 167]

Tocco pictured far right with the Czech Youth Hockey team.

 

 

March 11th 2019, Mathew Tocco laces up his skates and steps out onto the ice for the very first time on a new team, and in a new country. He and his team mates are greeted by the roaring cheers of rabid fans. Tocco plays his heart out on his teams way to a very close 1-0 victory. Tocco currently plays for The Philadelphia Reapers a new expansion team that's part of the VHLM. Tocco's story doesn't begin there though.

 

Early Life

 

Born November 21st 1999 to Ignazio Tocco and Ada Svoboda, in the small village of Holvasovice Czechia, hockey was a far cry from the stoic and hard working life Tocco was born into. Tocco's father Ignazio was an Italian immigrant living in the Czech Republic and was the apprentice of the local butcher. Ignazio was very quickly smitten with the butcher's daughter Ada and the two married. Following this event and the declining health of the butcher, the shop was left in the hands of the newly married couple. Soon after Ada would give birth to their first son, Mat.

 

As the son of a butcher Mat worked from a very young age helping in his family's shop. Hard work was in his blood, and this attribute would prove immensely helpful when it came to Mat's career in hockey. After spending his first five years in Holvasovice, Tocco's family had saved up enough money and decided to pack up their business and move to Prague. Tocco's mother had family there, and this would be the first exposure to hockey that Tocco would experience.

 

Adolescence

 

Much of Tocco's childhood was spent between school and working for his dad every day after. Weekends soon became his only solice. He would spend the majority of them with his mother's side of his family. Tocco would frequently visit the local rec center with his cousins, this as he recalls would be the first sign of what his future would hold. Mat's cousins were very avid hockey fans, not only in watching their hero and fellow Czech native Jaromir Jagr tear things up in the NHL, but also in playing the sport as well. They encouraged him to come along with them to play floor hockey at the rec center. In no time at all Tocco was able to outplay not only his cousins, but most of the kids in town. It was almost as if he had a natural affinity towards the sports. Jagr would soon become Mat's hero as well and he strived to be as good as him one day.

 

Tocco further progressed this goal upon trying out for the Prague International Youth hockey club. Making the team effortlessly, Tocco's life began to take a serious shift. Spending less and less time in his father's shop and more time on the ice. Tocco very quickly became the teams star player and scouts began to watch him very closely. He had tremendous speed, was very hard to knock off the puck, and could find the back of the net more often than not. This however would be short lived, as you see his parents would soon have a second child. The added stress and cost that came with this would force Tocco into spending much more of his time working. Between juggling work and school his hockey skill began to suffer. Constantly distracted and tired, Mat hit a wall. He had to quit the team and wouldn't play again for a few years. This trend of work, school,  and helping out at home continued for two years and potentially would have continued this for the rest of his life with him eventually taking over the family business.

 

This however changed upon the first time he visited America. Tocco's cousin had recently moved to New York to pursue a career as a sports writer. He invited Mat to visit and even offered to pay to fly him out there. Tocco agreed but on one condition. They would have to attend a Rangers game during his time in New York. See at this time Jagr was playing for the Rangers. Knowing that Mat's father would disapprove of them going to the game, his cousin was initially against the idea. However he soon gave in and this is when Mats life changed forever. Tocco attended the game in which Jagr would produce the teams only goal. Despite this ending in a heart breaking defeat, Mat had gotten to see his hero play and couldn't be happier. After the game, almost as if it were destiny Jagr would spot Tocco in the crowd and throw to him the puck from his lone goal. This would be the spark Mat needed to go back home and pursue what he now believes to be his destiny. 

 

Hockey Career

 

Tocco returned home, and that week told his family that hockey would be his future to his family's dismay. Stubborn at first, his father finally came around and began to attend all of Mat's games in middle school when he noticed that his son had a natural talent for the game. While it didn't come easily Mat managed to train hard enough to get back to the levels that made him a star in his youth league. He continued to bring this level of skill with him into highschool and was eventually noticed by HC Litomerice, a hockey club in Czech 1st league. Tocco would begin to put on dominant performances for them leading them into the playoffs multiple years in a row.

 

Although his team never qualified to move to the Extraliga it was very obvious that Mat had the skills to play there. This was also obvious to scouts because he was soon signed to Sparta Praha, a very successful Extraliga team. Tocco would go on to produce at a higher rate than any of his team that year. 

Tocco pictured playing with HC Sparta Praha

Present Day

 

This brings us to where we are now in Tocco's story. His success overseas caught the eye of the VHLM and in particular the eye of the Philadelphia Reapers GM BladeMaiden. The son of a butcher now finds himself a long way from home, in a busy and bustling city miles removed from his humble beginnings. Mat decided to finish his season with Sparta and due to this Tocco was picked up by Philly a quarter of the way into their season. While not produces yet in his short stint, he has still played a solid game with his +/- sitting at a +4. Despite his long trip to get here this is just the very beginning of Mat's life and career as he will be available in this year's upcoming VHL draft. We have yet to see what the future holds for this talented young prospect but his future certainly looks bright.

 

1137 words. 

[K1NG LINUS 145]

This is a very well-written biography. I liked the introduction in the present, then jump back into Tocco's past, very good writing! The family drama and papa Tocco's reluctance and eventual acceptance of his son's choice of career added a nice personal touch to the story. A truly inspiring story of rags to riches. Great biography, and welcome to the league!

 

Spoiler

But go easy on Saskatoon...

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by K1NG LINUS

[Matmenzinger 167]

14 minutes ago, K1NG LINUS said:

This is a very well-written biography. I liked the introduction in the present, then jump back into Tocco's past, very good writing! The family drama and papa Tocco's reluctance and eventual acceptance of his son's choice of career. A truly inspiring story of rags to riches. Great biography, and welcome to the league!

 

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But go easy on Saskatoon...

 

Thanks man! Really appreciate you saying that, but uhh no promises on that last part.

[FacebookFighter 67]

Review- Biographies are the hardest review for me because they typically dull on and have the same basic story. This one was very easy to read. Always like the boy who got inspiration from their childhood heroes. Also entertain the idea of a trade lol