Montreal women’s team | “We wanted to be on the same team”

Training for the Montrealers of the LPHF has just ended. The team’s two Czech players, Dominika Lásková and Tereza Vanišová, arrive for their scheduled interview with The Press. They take their place on two seats in the Verdun Auditorium, in front of the mirror they have just left. What follows is the gist of their discussion with your daily representative.

Jean-François Téotonio: I have two good news for you, right off the bat. The first is that the Czech Republic has just won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championship, with a nice comeback at the end of match.

Dominika Lásková: Oh, really? That’s great !

Tereza Vanišová: They deserve it… after they beat you, the Canadians! [rires]

JFT: That’s quite correct! Do you have the impression that Czech hockey is doing particularly well these days?

TV: Additionally, the Czech U18 team won an exhibition match against the Americans yesterday. This is the first time this has happened.

DL: Most of the boys now go to play in North America, at the junior or college level. At home, the girls play with the boys, then head to the Swedish Premier League. It helps them, since they play against players from senior teams. There are others who come to college here, and I think it’s good for the young Czech players.

TV: We don’t have a professional league at home. So you have to leave the country to go play internationally. Or play with the boys…

JFT: Did you play with the boys? Until what age?

TV: I stopped at 19! Both of them, in fact. It’s long, isn’t it?

DL: But it’s changing more and more. Girls leave the Czech Republic for the United States, Sweden or Finland around 16, 17 years old now.

JFT: The second good news is that the inaugural LPHF match between New York and Toronto attracted 2.9 million viewers in Canada.

TV and DL: Wow!

DL: Honestly, it’s really good.

JFT: How does it feel to know that so many people are interested in the LPHF product?

DL: Even at home, people follow us. Personally, I’m interested in how it’s perceived in Czechia, because I’m trying to help hockey grow there. It’s good to know that people support us. We also talk about it here, not just in North America.

Tereza Vanišová, a forward, and Dominika Lásková, a defender, are both 27 years old. They have played together in the Czech national team since they were teenagers. In Montreal, this is the second time they have been paired among the pros. Last year, they won the Premier Hockey Federation championship with the Toronto Six.

JFT: You have known each other for a long time. What kind of chemistry have you developed on the ice?

TV: We played on the same trio for a good part of last season. We see each other well on the ice.

DL: I played as a center and we were paired together. Since we’ve known each other for several years, she knows what to expect from me, and vice versa. Now that I’m on defense and she’s a winger, it’s different, but I still know what she’s going to do on the ice.

TV: We’ve been watching each other play for far too long…

JFT: Was it difficult to make the transition from center to defender?

DL: It was at first, but it’s not the first time I’ve done it. I grew up as a defender, then I was a forward in college [Merrimack]. I find it’s easier to go from attacker to defender than the other way around, because the attackers have to skate a little more. […]

JFT: Dominika, I heard that you are the funny one of the group. It’s true ?

Complicit glances and hilarity ensue.

DL: What do you think, T?

Tereza bursts out laughing.

TV: She’s something!

DL: Yes, I am the comic [I am the goofy one]. It’s important to bring that positive energy into the locker room. I think it’s more necessary than people might think.

TV: Sometimes, when Dominika isn’t there, I feel like it’s silent… Then she comes, and the room lights up!

JFT: Tereza, since you arrived here, your head coach has made you play on the first line, to the left of Marie-Philip Poulin. Did you expect this?

TV: No, not at all. We started camp together and still are today. We’ll see how it goes… It’s been okay so far.

[Rires]

TV: Just kidding! She is an extraordinary hockey player.

JFT: And how do you like Montreal since your arrival in the fall?

DL: That’s very good! We live 10 minutes from here, a short walk. Wellington Street is very beautiful. We have a small apartment, two bedrooms.

The two players are roommates.

TV: I have a feeling we won’t have much time to explore the city, though.

DL: We got to see her a little more when we were in a hotel downtown.

JFT: Dominika, I saw on an Instagram post from September, after you were drafted by Montreal, that Duolingo was going to become your new favorite app. Do you give back Duo happy ?

DL: Not really [rires]. We practice, but it’s difficult [d’apprendre le français].

TV: It’s more me practicing.

DL: T practices and I listen.

TV: She doesn’t want to practice her French with me.

DL: We know two sentences.

JFT: I would like to hear them, please.

Tereza launches into a very honorable “Hello, how are you?” I’m doing well. »

JFT: Dominika, before being drafted by Montreal, you signed an agreement with Luleå HF, in Sweden. How did you make your decision to come to Montreal despite your agreement with this club?

DL: It was summer, I had to make a decision. I knew the draft here was in September and the schedule was going to start in January. So I wanted to be ready in the event that I was drafted. In my contract with Luleå, it was indicated that I could leave to come here. […] It was a great experience. I was sad because I don’t like leaving in the middle of the season. But I had to do it to continue my career. It was obvious that I had to come here. I played 14 games there, which is better than nothing. I was able to get into a good rhythm.

JFT: The high-level professionalism of the league here is hard to turn down.

DL: I won’t lie, the salaries are better here than they are in Sweden, even if the conditions are good there. But if you’re asked if you want to play with the best player in the world or stay in Sweden, you’re going to choose what you prefer, right? I think I can speak for Tereza: it’s a dream come true to play with and against the best players in the world. On a daily basis, not just once or twice during international tournaments. We can compare ourselves every day. It will help us when we return to the national team.

JFT: How happy were you to find yourself together in Montreal?

DL: I was even happier than you!

TV: We didn’t expect it. It was not planned.

DL: We were lucky, because we said to ourselves that we wanted to be on the same team.

TV: And we wanted to stay in Canada! I don’t know why, but I prefer Canada to the United States.

JFT: Do you think that other players from Europe will want to make the jump to LPHF soon?

TV: I think they want to come. It’s a better quality league, the hockey is different from Europe. […]

DL: Players from Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic have asked me how things are going so far. I hope there will be more Europeans, because we can bring a lot to this style of hockey. We want to show that it is no longer just a question of Canada or the United States [rires].

TV: It will improve the national teams and the world championships. The tournaments will be more balanced, the gap will be smaller. It will help everyone, especially the development of women’s hockey.

Comments have been edited for brevity.

Montreal visits Minnesota this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on RDS2 and CBC.