LEWISTON – It’s a good thing there was a Plan B, and also that it wasn’t much of a step down from Plan A.
With the 26th overall pick in the 2005 Canadian Hockey League import draft, the Lewiston Maineiacs added another Slovakian to the team, center Jakub Bundil.
“He was not the guy we were looking for,” said Maineiacs head coach and general manager Clem Jodoin. “I’ve never seen him play, but the scouts tell me he has a lot of potential, but he will have to adjust to the North American style of play.”
At 6-feet, 6-inches and 200 pounds Bundil will likely have to play a more physical style than he would in Slovakia.
“Here, the ice surface is much smaller,” said Jodoin. “It’s always tougher and harder to play here. They all have the skill, but sometimes it takes the courage to be able to adapt to this style.”
The fact that the Maineiacs chose a Slovakian player shouldn’t be a surprise. In the two years since arriving in Lewiston, the the team has had four European players, and all of them were from Slovakia. This year, defenseman Michal Korenko is expected to return, while goaltender Jaroslav Halak won’t.
In the previous season, defenseman Richard Stehlik and forward Vladislav Balaz filled the two European roster positions.
The Maineiacs did not choose a second player, because Korenko is still on the team.
“If we wanted to do that, we would have needed to put Korenko on a frozen list and he would not have been able to play,” said Jodoin.
Bundil scored 15 goals and 19 assists in just 12 games for his Slovakian team in 2003-04 and eight goals and six assists for 14 points in an older age division last season for Dukla Trencin. In the 2003-04 campaign, Bundil accrued 24 minutes in penalties, while last season, he was whistled for just 12 minutes in 29 games.
The focus now turns to attracting a few free agents and preparing a final list. So far, one local player, Mike Carpenter of St. Dom’s, has been invited to camp, which opens August 16.
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