Prospect Info: Round 3, Pick 90: Matej Tomek, G, Topeka (USHL) --> North Dakota (NCHC)

[Hiesenberg]

They do a draft for the USHL?

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

 

[FLYguy3911]

Makes sense if he intends to play college hockey somewhere else.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

I think I was more excited about Tomek than any other goalie prospect we got that year. What a bummer how things shook out for him.

 

[Chuck Downie]

 

[David St Hubbins]

I think I was more excited about Tomek than any other goalie prospect we got that year. What a bummer how things shook out for him.

I think many here were excited because of his connection with Hakstol (UND recruit). I wonder if that has changed ...

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I was excited because he was a beast in the first rosters for EHM. I still haven't given up on him, although I'm baffled about him going back to high school lolz.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I'd imagine he would still take college classes at a local community college or something. The more important thing here is that he'd be ineligible to transfer & play right away within the NCAA next season. The USHL gives him somewhere else to play for next year while he's transfers to another school for the 2018-2019 season.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

And Waterloo is typically a good program, no?

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

And Waterloo is typically a good program, no?

Yeah of the non-US Program kids they usually produce some of the more talented kids to come out of the league. Mark Friedman played there for example. Brock Boeser & Brandon Montour are two other league wide recent notables.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

P.K. O'Handley has been their coach for ~15 years too.

 

[sa cyred]

Works out well for him. He gets 1 year of "junior" again before then transferring to a another college program where he will have 2 years left of eligibility. He will be 22 turning 23 when he plays his last season.

 

[Curufinwe]

Tomek got a shutout in his first USHL exhibition game, while dealing with this really sad news.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=87426

4) A sad note to pass along: Flyers goaltending prospect Matej Tomek's father unexpectedly passed away a few weeks ago after suffering a fatal heart attack. Condolences go out to Matej, his entire family and friends of the family. Thank you, Ondrej Fessl, for bringing this to my attention.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

Tomek got a shutout in his first USHL exhibition game, while dealing with this really sad news.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=87426

Just bad luck for him since he was drafted. Poor guy

 

[Appleyard]

 

[deadhead]

Goalies are funny, a number didn't become NHL starters until they were 25-28 years old.
So Tomek still has plenty of time to turn his career around.
With all he's been through, he's still only 22, a few months younger than Sandstrom.

 

[dats81]

Sounds like he was a little overwhelmed standing on his own feet in a foreign country. It's only human but not a good sign for a goalie because mental strength is vital for playing that unique position.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I watched Tomek at his first development camp after the draft. He was absolutely terrible, and also showed a poor, pouting attitude. I wrote about it on here, and of course got the typical venomous response from people who didn't want to hear anything negative about their new 3rd round pick. Well, his career has followed directly in line with what he showed that camp. I am glad to hear he has had a good start in Slovakia, however. Europe is probably where he belongs.

 

[Appleyard]

 

[gertbfrobe16]

Sounds like he was a little overwhelmed standing on his own feet in a foreign country. It's only human but not a good sign for a goalie because mental strength is vital for playing that unique position.

drinkin beer and chasin women.

 

[Appleyard]

 

[deadhead]

Maybe he needed to develop a healthy fear of failure.
A lot of kids take their talent for granted until they see their dream slipping away.

 

[Appleyard]

Maybe he needed to develop a healthy fear of failure.
A lot of kids take their talent for granted until they see their dream slipping away.

He had a really tough time really once drafted.

Serious groin injury before his first NCAA season, was not healthy until ~February when season was close to done.
UND did not play anyone but Johnson until after Xmas in his 2nd year.
He did not play a SINGLE game between April 2015 and December 2016 as a result. And only 2x games with more than 20 minutes in net between April 2015 and September 2017.
His 2 games for North Dakota comprised of below 30 minutes total 12 minutes in relief and a first period where he allowed two.
Then his Dad died just as he went to the USHL.

Will be interesting to see what happens after this year. I guess now he will be a good Euro level goalie whatever and get a ~Czech/German/Swiss/Sweden/Finland chance down the line if does not come back to North America.

 

[Appleyard]

 

[landsbergfan]

He has been very good ever since the Flyers got rid of Hakstol