What We Know: Marek Alscher
Portland, Ore. – There are plenty of factors that go into each CHL Import Draft and following the last year that we’ve all experienced, there were certainly plenty of unknowns this time around. Most eligible prospects played far fewer games than a usual season and there certainly wasn’t any ability to watch games in-person overseas.
The show must go on though, and the Winterhawks selected Czech defenseman Marek Alscher with the 26th overall selection in Wednesday’s 2021 edition of the annual event.
So, what do we know about him?
Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach Mike Johnston had the following to say after making the pick:
“We’re very excited. He’s a good skater for a big guy and I see him as a blend defenseman – he can jump up in the rush and he can be a big defender too.”
Alscher was the only selection made by Portland today, as the club elected to pass on their second choice at #101.
“We found out about him from Jan Ludvig (Johnny’s Father), he used to work in the area of the Czech Republic where Marek is from,” Johnston continued. “He’s a very driven and focused player, so I like that about him as well.”
The 17-year-old currently stands at 6’2″, 192 lbs. and is expected to be a key piece to Portland’s blue line in the fall.
“I’ve heard really good reports about his personality and his character, so we obviously like that too. We’d love to add a solid all-around player like that.”
In terms of what else is accessible to prove that via the internet, here’s what we have:
Credit to PNW Hockey Talk’s Josh Critzer for finding the below clip from YouTube courtesy of Pelicans-TV, which features Alscher pulling the puck off the wall, inside-outing a defender and burying.
On Twitter, Finland-based scout Marco Bombino offered the following in regards to Alscher’s style of play:
Czech defenseman Marek Alscher to Portland Winterhawks in the #CHLImportDraft. A powerful blueliner, he can carry the puck up the ice, has good offensive instincts and power play assets. High compete level, battles in his own end. Spent last 2 seasons w/ Pelicans jrs in Finland.
— Finnish Jr Hockey (@FINjrhockey) June 30, 2021
And lastly, although the article comes from over two years ago, a dedicated piece by hokej.cz on Alscher, which discusses a few topics. You’ll have to use the auto-translate function, but items such as why he made the decision to play in Finland despite being from the Czech Republic are included.
Alscher also shares that some of his favorite players to have watch are/were Filip Hronek (Detroit Red Wings), Erik Karlsson (San Jose Sharks) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona Coyotes.
