Import Forward Petr Making Strong First Impression
Article Courtesy Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun
The Brandon Wheat Kings are helping Dominik Petr achieve one of his goals in hockey.
The 18-year-old forward, who is from Ostrava, Czechia, was selected by the Wheat Kings with the 18th overall pick in the most recent Canadian Hockey League import draft.
“It was a dream to play in Canada one day,” Petr said. “Now it’s hopefully happening. I wanted to restart my career again. As we know, hockey in Canada is really good, really fast and physical with so many skilled players in the league. I just want to compare myself against them and try to be the best.”
Petr, which is pronounced Peter, played the last three seasons at the U16, U8 and U20 levels with Lukko based in Rauma, Finland, a coastal city located 255 kilometres northwest of Helsinki.
That helped in a couple of ways.
“I’m mostly an offensive player but I played in Finland for three years and the system there was more defensive,” Petr said. “That improved my defensive side, but I want to play my game here again, which is more offensive. Basically, I’m trying to find free spots for guys and be the creative guy on a line on the ice.”
He wants to improve his power and strength but said he’s essentially working on every part of his game all the time.
Off the ice, Petr still thinks in Czech most of the time and then translates, but is starting to have his interior dialogue in English sometimes. That’s where Finland comes in again.
“I had to speak English every day,” said Petr, whose command of the language is very strong. “It’s not as hard for me as it was at the beginning.”
The left-shooting Petr arrived in Canada on Saturday morning, a day later than originally expected because his flight was delayed.
The six-foot-two, 165-pound forward said his new Brandon teammates have been terrific in welcoming him.
“I was surprised,” Petr said. “It’s like my second new team. Guys took me in pretty well. I’m the type of guy who wants to speak with everyone and be friendly. The guys are and have helped me a lot so far.”
It’s definitely what he wants and where he wants to be.
Petr was hoping to be selected, and monitored the CHL draft online.
“When I saw my name there, I was surprised and really happy and excited to be drafted by Brandon,” Petr said.
By coincidence, he knew a bit about the Wheat Kings already.
“I played Brandon a couple of times on PlayStation,” Petr said with a smile. “I knew the team before but I was trying to Google some things about Brandon.”
Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray, who spent part of his professional playing career in Europe and understands the challenges in changing continents, said Petr has done an excellent job of making the transition.
“He seems like a nice young man,” Murray said. “He’s been here probably five or six days so he’s getting acclimated and used to the time change.
“You get into a new environment with new equipment — everything is brand new — but I think he’d acclimated himself really well and fit in with the players and billets. The off-ice stuff has gone really well.”
Murray had his first opportunity to watch the young Czech forward in person during a practice on Friday morning, when Petr displayed a defensive awareness along with an instant ability to create offence.
“To see him on the ice for the first time today was fun,” Murray said. “I think his hockey sense stood out for me right off the get-go. He thinks the game really well and can make plays in tight areas.”
Petr’s hockey IQ shouldn’t be a surprise.
His father is longtime coach Jakub Petr, who has spent the last two decades with Czech’s national team players at the U18 and U20 levels as he worked with HC Vítkovice.
The elder Petr actually coached his son recently after Dominik skated with the U18 national team in 2021-22 and again last winter. Petr had four points in five games at the recent Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which brings together many of the top players in the world in that age group, including his new Brandon teammates Charlie Elick and Roger McQueen.
Petr said it’s a mixed blessing playing for your father.
“Some people were saying it was much easier for me than other guys but I would say it’s much harder,” Petr said. “Sometimes the pressure is not only on yourself, but your dad. You’re playing for your dad and your team so I would say it’s harder than for normal guys.”
The 18-year-old forward hasn’t set any expectations for himself beyond the hope that he can get acclimated to the WHL during the pre-season games and that the team make the playoffs.
But he said the first impressions of things like the dressing room, Keystone Centre and city of Brandon have all been very good.
“The dressing room is pretty cool,” Petr said. “I like the black and gold. It looks amazing. In Europe, it’s not that common to have a locker room like this. It’s a really nice building.
“Brandon is a small city but I like it. I was playing in a city of 40,000 so I’m kind of used to it.
“It’s really good so far.”
