There’s far more to the sport of hockey than what a player can provide on the scoresheet and nobody on the Prince Albert Raiders embodies that more than Vojtech Vochvest.
Through 106 games in his WHL career, the 19-year-old Czech import defenceman has registered seven assists in his time split between the Kamloops Blazers, Prince George Cougars and Prince Albert Raiders.
Raider interim head coach Ryan McDonald says Vochvest has played an extremely important role for Prince Albert on the back end this season.
“He’s an extremely vital piece of our back end. He’s a player who plays hard, he’s heavy in the defensive zone, he’s got a good stick, he closes quick, he closes fast, and he makes that good, simple first read, and he’s very effective every time he’s on the ice.”
Vochvest was originally a second round pick by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2023 CHL Import Draft, taken with the 118th overall selection.
Vochvest skated in 67 games as a Blazer last season registering five assists and a minus-37 rating. He was traded to the Prince George Cougars in an offseason deal that saw 20-year-old Oren Shtrom head back to Kamloops.
Vochvest spent the first seven games of the season with the Cougars before he found himself on the move yet again. After the Cougars signed Russian import Arseni Anisimov and the return of Viliam Kmec from the Vegas Golden Knights, Prince George was over the CHL maximum of two import players per team.
He was traded to the Raiders on October 7 in exchange for an eighth round draft selection in 2027, which Prince Albert had previously acquired from the Wenatchee Wild.
In 32 games in a Raider sweater, Vochvest has recorded two assists and has posted a plus-seven rating, ranking fourth on the Raiders this season behind Brayden Dube, Justice Christensen and Aiden Oiring.
Vochvest says he takes pride in being a player who can be relied upon in his own end.
“It’s been my game for a couple years to be the shutdown D man and I’m really proud of it. You know, I’m not the skill guy, the guy who scores a lot of goals or makes great (offensive) plays. I’m just the guy to defend, make a couple hits, block the shots and that’s my job.”
At the time of the trade, Vochvest had to get to know his new teammates in a hurry. The Raiders visited Prince George on Oct. 12 and picked up Vochvest who played his first game as a Raider against his former club. He would then travel all across the province with the Raiders before even coming to Prince Albert to meet his billet family.
Vochvest says he was able to feel comfortable with his new team despite being thrown into the mix very quickly.
“At the start it was pretty hard when I joined the team on the B.C. trip. I met them the first time in Prince George at the hotel, and everybody was just so kind, and they welcomed me with open arms. It was great, and I think I settled in very quickly because of the boys and the coaches and everything. When I came to P.A., nothing changed. I went to my billet family, and they were just awesome, and I’m so happy to be with them.”
Although he is not a part of the Raider leadership group, Vochvest brings plenty to the team off the ice as well. McDonald says Vochvest leads by example and helps his teammates want to be better.
“(He’s) just a fantastic teammate, he plays hard every single night. He’s on the ice in practice, he practices hard and he’s in the gym, he works out hard and he’s a guy that a lot of his teammates really look up to and really adore his work ethic and how he does things.”
Prior to the acquisition of Matteo Fabrizi from the Red Deer Rebels, Vochvest found himself playing a lot of minutes alongside Seattle Kraken prospect Lukas Dragicevic.
Dragicevic is currently second amongst defencemen in the WHL in scoring this season with 49 points in 39 games played.
“I think it worked pretty well because we are absolutely opposite players. This makes us good because I think Drago could do anything in the O zone and I just left it up to him and I think in the opposite way, I helped him out in the D zone so we were just helping each other out.”
Despite playing over 100 games in the WHL, Vochvest has yet to score a goal. McDonald says his Vochvest has been getting more chances at scoring as the year has gone on.
“He’s had some really good looks from the point. He’s doing a really good job of getting mobile up on the blue line and making plays on the move and getting pucks to the net and getting those seeing eye shots through. You’re gonna see his opportunities continue to increase as he continues.”
When asked about when he thinks his first WHL goal would come, Vochvest was very noncommittal on a time frame.
“It’s coming, I’ll leave it like that.” he said with a smile.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
