A solid ten minutes before Octagon's hockey camp session is set to get underway, Jiri Sekac gets the sheet to himself. He saunters down to secure the nets, not wanting to wait for targets. His blades cut the sounds of NHL strides. His shot blisters off the crossbar at NHL speed, transferred from wrist to stick-tape with the ease you expect from an NHL sniper. He dangles, smoothly and precisely. He smiles when Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin steps on the ice, as the two exchange saucers and bullet-paced one-timers before the heavy lifting of intense drills play out over the next hour and a half.
Sekac takes on the drills with determination, aiming to perfect them. It's play, but for Sekac, it definitely looks like work. The others--prolific NHLers like Milan Michalek and Martin Havlat, Michael Frolik and P.A. Parenteau take the opportunity to catch their breath in between the high intensity drill circuits while Sekac hunches over his stick for a second before grabbing six or seven more pucks to shoot. There's a hunger there, and it speaks even louder than the impressive skillset he displays.
By the time these guys are done with this boot camp, the ice needs emergency surgery. Sekac is among the last to step off, no worse for wear.
Sekac working with trainer Paul Gagne
"There were a lot of teams that wanted him, but he really wanted to be in Montreal. He loves it here," says Sekac's agent Allan Walsh, smiling as he watches his clients take their final reps on the ripped up ice at Lower Canada College.
The kids from the football team scamper by before the practice, stopping Sekac on his way to the locker room because they all recognize him--he who's yet to don a Montreal Canadiens' sweater. He laughs with them and hands out high fives to meet all requests. He gets a glimpse of how bright the spotlight is here, and his smile shows that he appreciates it.
Canadiens fans are wondering what the immediate future holds for this 22-year old Czech player. He's signed to a two-way deal with Montreal, and the belief is that he's in a very serious competition with Jacob De La Rose and Sven Andrighetto to steal a roster spot out of training camp.
Earlier this week, Sekac told Conor Mckenna of TSN 690 that starting the year in Hamilton wouldn't deter him at all from his goal; that he wouldn't give up; that he's not just going to pack his bags and go home. In the same breath, when asked to describe his style of play, Sekac talked about his speed and board play, but emphasized his hunger for the puck and his willingness to battle for it.
There will be plenty of questions about how Sekac will hold up physically to the rigors of NHL competition and an unforgiving schedule. Those questions will remain until he has a real opportunity to answer them--beyond training camp and exhibition games. Whether he starts the year in Montreal or not, he showed everything to allow for a confident prediction that he'll be ending his year there, and likely in a pivotal scoring role. In fact, he allows for a confident prediction that he'll be winning his roster spot out of camp. We'll see if the jury agrees...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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