Thu, Jan 18, 2024 page7

• Czech best friends seek hockey glory in PWHL

  • AP, MONTREAL
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  Dominika Laskova remembers waiting for a pass that never landed on her stick.

  She was 12 years old taking the ice for the Czech Republic’s under-15 national camp. Her teammate, Tereza Vanisova, was hogging the puck.

  “I don’t want to say we didn’t like each other, but Tereza kind of didn’t pass to anybody,” Laskova said from Montreal’s Verdun Auditorium. “She was kind of selfish on the ice.”

  

  Montreal’s Tereza Vanisova, right, collides with New York goaltender Abigail Levy during the third period of their Professional Women’s Hockey League game in Laval, Quebec, on Tuesday.

  Photo: AP

  Fifteen years later, the Czech players are best friends — and sharing more than just a puck.

  Laskova and Vanisova are the only Europeans on Montreal’s Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) team, pursuing ice hockey careers that have led them both to new lives in Canada.

  “We are like wife after 20 years of living together,” Laskova said with a laugh.

  The 27-year-olds were drafted together by Montreal and moved close to the team’s primary arena.

  They also shared an apartment as members of the Premier Hockey Federation’s Toronto Six last season.

  Vanisova, doing her best to shake the “puck hog” label Laskova tagged her with so many years ago, had a team-leading four assists through four games entering Tuesday’s game against New York, which they won 3-2.

  Laskova has not yet found the scoresheet.

  Vanisova is a “fast” player, Laskova said, while Vanisova described Laskova as skilled and smart.

  “She can see the ice very well,” Vanisova said.

  Off the ice they find ways to blow off the pressure of playing high-stakes ice hockey — and keeping homesickness at bay.

  “We’re in the same boat, and it’s like, if I have a bad day, she kind of knows what it feels like,” Laskova said. “Just being away from family and like being a European and having a different culture and stuff like that, it’s always nice to have somebody who can understand that.”

  Occasional meals of traditional Czech comfort food prepared by Vanisova help to bring some of their homeland closer.

  “Tereza loves her kitchen and she doesn’t let me cook, so I’m just bent out,” Laskova said. “I can cook too, but she just doesn’t let me, so I just make fun of it and, like, she’s the mom, I’m the dad of the family. So I just always ask: ‘What time is the dinner? What time should I be ready?’”

  Vanisova adds that no one can make her laugh like Laskova.

  “As a roommate, she’s funny. She is something else,” Vanisova said before bursting out in laughter. “She always makes fun of everything. Sometimes I’m like: ‘OK, stop. I’m not in a mood for it,’ but she keeps going.”

  Vanisova and Laskova, both world championship bronze medalists for the Czech Republic, played college ice hockey in the US.

  They have experienced professional ice hockey closer to home by playing in the Czech and Swedish leagues, but the newly formed PWHL offers them a chance to play at the highest level on a consistent basis, and they are determined to make it despite having their families six time zones away.

  “If I would go back to [the Czech Repulbic] I would probably quit hockey,” Vanisova said. “And in Europe, Sweden, maybe Finland [could be options], but it’s not the same for sure.”

  Playing in North America can help improve European teams on an international stage dominated by Canada and the US for decades, Laskova added.

  “You always chase your dreams and this league, I think, is the top league I have ever played in,” she said. “Playing alongside Team Canada, Team USA players or just playing against them the whole year round is obviously good for us. I think for Europeans, it’s definitely a good step forward to get closer to the North American teams and win at the international level.”
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