Dagmar Havlova

[diamond_ace 3,106]

It all started with a charity match. To think that we've arrived here, on the cusp of a former Czech First Lady making her VHL debut, after having spent some time in Canada in the VHLM... all on the back of a charity match. It's unheard of, really. These are the types of games that don't even get scouted - a singer, a radio dj, maybe a few news broadcasters; it was a big coup to get Havlova to even play in the charity match, as she was a bit more well known and in the public eye than most of her counterparts. Former Pittsburgh Penguin Martin Straka was the coach, and recognized talent in Havlova, but even that was surely nothing more than the level of the competition - or so it seemed, until the level of competition was raised and she was not lost in the shuffle as expected. Imagine the scenes at the first home game. A country welcoming home their prodigal daughter as she steps out onto the ice in front of a sellout crowd. So what skills brought us to this moment?

Defense - Having watched the national team for decades, as well as some of her country's greatest NHLers, Havlova took to the defensive side of the center role better than could possibly have been expected. Closing down the moment the opposition gains the puck, some early forechecks, but not so aggressive as to be caught out of position to give up breakaways.

 

Scoring - This was more the result of long hours in the offices and boardrooms as her former husband, Vaclav Havel, had the important task of not only running a country but founding one. There were quite a few spots in their estate where practice nets were set up and Dagmar shot for fun. Occasionally, there were days where Vaclav would be in a meeting for hours, and just in the next room, Dagmar would be shooting pucks into her practice nets to kill time, just because it was what she wanted to do.

 

Skating - Here's where the surprise comes in. A bit of natural skill on skates; perhaps some former dance ability in her past, perhaps just a natural, who knows? When she first got on the ice though, it was a seamless transition, including adapting the existing skillset to being on skates.

 

Unfortunately, not everything went quite so well...

 

Faceoffs - This is something that's going to be important going forward. The rest of Havlova's skillset fits the profile of a center more than a winger, but she'll need to improve quickly at the spot if she wants to maintain the role going forward.

 

Checking - Not the most imposing of figures, Havlova isn't as prone to the big hits as some of her teammates, and in fact often becomes the target of opposing hits due to size, lack of experience in the game, and honestly the fame probably plays some small part in it as well.

Discipline - This is a powerful woman with powerful connections, who is used to getting her way. Things have always been biased in her favor, so when a game is called fairly, it appears biased against her compared to what she's used to. This can lead to her getting a bit carried away with things at times.