Marek Troncinsky profile

Almost every year appear players who stood in the shadows during the previous seasons before blossoming in their draft year and gaining draft consideration. The example of this fact in 2006 is Marek Troncinsky, a defenseman with the Kladno juniors.

Having the advantage of being both a son and nephew of an active hockey player, Marek Troncinsky was brought to the game of hockey at the mere age of three. Both of his parents wanted him to be active in his free time and do some sport. Hockey was the no-brainer due to the tradition of this sport in the Troncinsky family and the region around his native city Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, but the little Troncinsky began to be involved in soccer as well. He gave a try to two of the most popular Czech sports and didn't want to concentrate on just one sport.

Troncinsky joined a talented team consisting of 1988 born players who were at the beginning of their respective careers. After learning how to maintain balance on his skates and how to handle the puck at the practices of the entry level team, coached by none else than his father Radek, it was obvious that he inherited the hockey talent from his father, who played even on the Czech elite senior level and for the Czechoslovakian junior national teams before spoiling his promising career with a questionable attitude and work ethic. At first Troncinsky was slotted to play forward just like his father, a position which was traditional in his family. "I performed at forward since the very beginning of my career. I was eager to score goals and could get valuable tips from my father. I didn't think of playing any other position at that time."

As he battled his way through the age categories of Usti youth hockey, Marek Troncinsky emerged as one of the most promising forwards from his birth year. The Usti nad Labem 1988 borns built a strong core of players, led by Troncinsky at forward and Michal Neuvirth, a fellow 2006 eligible goaltender, between the pipes. Troncinsky started to play occasionally with players older than him but didn't really stand out among his peers when taking the whole Czech Republic in concern.

Marek Troncinsky was happy with performing in the forward rows where he could take advantage of his strong composure with the puck and he could support the offense with his deceptive passing skills. This brought him lots of points in the lower age categories, but when playing against the older opposition he needed to show also his defensive responsibility. He didn't show a noticeable defensive talent and needed to upgrade on his defensive responsibility and positioning. The coaches tried to learn the talented forward how to take care of his own end better, but the offensive side naturally still prevailed.

In the 7th and 8th grade saw Marek Troncinsky his offensive output peak and he couldn't dominate scoring on the older age levels. He served as the team's sniper and still could occasionally wreak havoc in the offensive zone of the opponent, which brought him several trophies of the 'Top goalscorer' from a number of youth tournaments. But his offensive talent was inconsistent and it was doubtful whether Troncinsky would be able to break through in the stiff competition of the very talented forwards in the Czech 1988 birth year.

Before the season where he laced up the skates for the 9th grade team a big change took place for Troncinsky. After numerous talks with his father he switched positions and started to perform as an offensive defenseman. The move targeted one goal - make from a decent forward a good two-way defenseman. Troncinsky had only the final year before moving up to the midget ranks at his disposal to learn the ropes and bounds of the defensive trade and replace his offensive instincts with more defensively-focused ones. He stopped attending soccer practices and began to fully concentrate on a hockey career. Troncinsky eventually succeeded in learning to play as an offensive defenseman within one year and could distribute crisp passes to the forwards.

Troncinsky joined the Usti nad Labem midgets full-time prior to the 2003-2004 season. The team was promoted to the midget Extraleague after winning the Div I midget league in the previous season and Marek Troncinsky was counted on to provide a considerable role on the team. He didn't need to move to another city to be provided with a chance to perform on the elite midget level and took advantage of the chance given to him. With Michal Neuvirth gone for the Sparta Praha midgets the Usti nad Labem back rows were vulnerable. Troncinsky could adapt to the elite midget level quickly, but didn't serve as a rock-steady factor in his own end, more as a two-way blueliner who added a nasty flair to the defense of the team. Troncinsky filled a solid role on the powerplays and showed an impressive composure with the puck, but some costly mistakes in his own end meant also goals scored against Usti nad Labem. He registered the most successful part of the season in November and December when playing against the weaker teams from the eastern part of the Czech Republic. However, his efforts couldn't prevent the Usti nad Labem midgets from a relegation as the squad was the weakest in the midget Extraleague by a fair margin. In his first full season of midget hockey Troncinsky dressed out for 52 games and amassed 13 points (3+10) along with a +/- of +6 and 58 PIM.

With the Usti nad Labem team no longer in possession of a midget Extraleague franchise for 2004-2005, it was time to move on for Troncinsky, who needed to perform on the highest midget level possible and at home he couldn't perform higher than at the Div I midget level."I received two offers, from Litvinov and Liberec. Both teams could provide me with a chance to play in the midget Extraleague and I picked Litvinov over Liberec in the end." So Troncinsky moved to the town nearer his home and joined the system of a team with a senior Extraleague franchise.

In Litvinov was Troncinsky asked to make use of his previous experience from the elite midget level and fill a two-way role on the second or third line including special units time. In Litvinov Troncinsky wasn't looked upon as a defensive anchor as he stood a bit in the shadow of more experienced Karel Kubat and Boris Gazur, the hulking mammoth nowadays playing in the Finnish junior league. Troncinsky was brought in as a factor who could surprise and was given the chance to show what he is capable of. He played his usual mix of offensive prowess and nastiness and his experience from the midget level helped him to reduce the number of brain cramps and positional gaffes in his own end. The scenario was similar to the previous season as Troncinsky registered his offensive peak in November and December, but in this season he could show his nasty edge on a more regular basis. He ran out of steam in late February, when he was also limited by the pains from his right ankle, an injury which can be chronic if he suffers one more sprained ankle in his future career. Marek Troncinsky took part in 48 midget games in 2004-2005, scoring 26 points (11+15), a +/- of +8 and 130 PIM.

However, there was only a little chance for Troncinsky to receive quality ice time on the Litvinov juniors for 2005-2006. The juniors head coach Josef Beranek made publicly known that he will rely on experience on the back rows and rookies promoted from the midget team will earn only a limited amount of playing time. So Troncinsky, at that time still unrepresented by an agent, was ready to leave Litvinov and join another team. He received the offer from the ambitious Kladno team, build mostly from 1987 and 1988 born players and a lot of junior national teams players on its roster. This decision was a no-brainer for Troncinsky who started to wear the blue and white colors of Kladno since the fall of 2005.

The 2004-2005 season marked Troncinsky's debut on the international stage. After going unnoticed during the whole previous season, Troncinsky was invited to the final event of the Under-17 team season, a three-game series between the Czech and Swiss Under-17 teams, played in April. He pulled off an offensive performance, but didn't really stand out on the international stage.

Entering his draft year, Troncinsky quickly blossomed as the biggest possible wildcard for the 2006 draft from the Czech junior Extraleague. The Kladno team was scouted heavily due to the presence of a number of other draft-eligible prospects such as David Ruzicka, Martin Latal and Michal Kazatel. Troncinsky's play helped him to gain focus of the scouting community as he adjusted to the elite junior level very smoothly while taking his offensive play to another level and playing a solid nasty style which would translate to North America relatively well. The major knock against Troncinsky turned out to be his lacklustre explosiveness and first-step quickness, but his mix of passing, shooting and hitting earned him the role of one of the leaders of the Kladno defense.

In November he could even score at a point-per-game pace, a rare accomplishment for a rookie defenseman. In late January Troncinsky started attending the practices of the Kladno senior team and from the beginning of February began to perform for both the junior and senior teams of Kladno. The senior team was already eliminated from postseason consideration and decided to test the most talented players from their junior program in the senior Extraleague games. Troncinsky registered a decent debut on the elite Czech level, even if his lack of experience and top-notch skating was visible, he could hold his own adequately well and occasionally outplay the higher touted fellow 2006 eligible prospect David Ruzicka. Troncinsky appeared in four senior games overall, scoring two points for two assists and a +/- of -3. After the end of the regular season of the junior Extraleague Troncinsky rejoined the junior squad and helped them in their playoff run, crowned by the claiming of the junior Extraleague championship title. He didn't register a significant progress in his play during the second half of the season and didn't improve on his skating or make his plays with the puck more mistake-free, but in general registered a breakthrough season on the junior level. He dressed out for 51 junior games in 2005-2006, registering 24 points (10+14), a +/- of +20 and 94 PIM.

Marek Troncinsky's performances in the junior Extraleague couldn't go unnoticed to the head coach of the Czech Under-18 team Martin Pesout, who decided to provide him with another chance to showcase his skills on the international stage. Troncinsky dressed out for the Four Nations Tournament, played in Prievidza, Slovakia, in November. He started the tournament on a sub-par note with an adventurous performance in the opening game against Slovakia where his erratic decisions with the puck and glaring mistakes in his own end caused the coaches to bench him for one period. Troncinsky reduced the number of mistakes in the second matchup against Russia where he could skate with most of the opponents and showed his strong confidence with the puck. Troncinsky was willing to lay hits on the opposition but showed a penchant to loose position. He registered his best game of the tournament with an above-average showing in the third game against Germany. Troncinsky was very useful at supporting the offense and played a smart game at the offensive blue line. He started the tournament on a cold note but the strong finish helped him to gain the title of the most productive defenseman of the tournament.

Troncinsky virtually repeated his performance from Prievidza on the next tournament, the four-game series against the Under-18 team of Sweden, played in late December. He registered an unimpressive start into the tournament and got better as the games went on, finishing with the most shots from all Czech players and upgrading on his offensive support. He made the trip also to the Five Nations Tournament, played in February in Russia, not standing out among the other blueliners on the team but filling his role adequately well.

Despite his acceptable international performances Marek Troncinsky ended up as one of the cuts from the Czech Under-18 WJC team. Head coach Martin Pesout took a preference in David Ruzicka in the role of the offensive defenseman from the Kladno team given his way bigger international experience and Troncinsky couldn't showcase his skills on the major international event of the Under-18 teams.

Marek Troncinsky is only an adequate skater. Despite blessed with a decent straightaway speed he definitely should upgrade on first-step quickness. He boasts an adequate acceleration and an okay lateral movement. Troncinsky possesses okay balance, but still could use more lower-body strength. He should be quicker when skating backwards and skate backwards a longer distance when being challenged by an opposing forward. Troncinsky is overweight and his skating should improve if he will be able to loose some weight. An offensive-minded defenseman, Troncinsky often joins the rush and supports the offense. He emerges as a solid puckhandler who likes to have the puck on his stick and is very confident in his puck-moving abilities. Troncinsky only should corral difficult passes more smoothly. He is prone to takeaways when not covering the puck properly. Troncinsky shows okay creativity and a decent offensive vision which enable him to serve as a solid powerplay quarterback. Troncinsky makes hard and accurate passes on both short and long distance but can't avoid glaring mistakes when distributing the puck. He is willing to let his hard accurate slap shot go and fires a hard snap shot. He is willing to play physical even against bigger opponents and can throw a hard hit. Troncinsky is average defensive zone coverage and suffers from the odd positional breakdown when rushing too deep into the offensive zone. He is occasionally disinterested in the happening in the defensive zone, which spoils his defensive zone coverage.

Troncinsky considers Toronto Maple Leafs' defenseman Tomas Kaberle his hockey role model."I admire his offense and the ability to make quick accurate passes."

If there would be a NHL team he would prefer to play for, Troncinsky chooses either the New York Rangers or the Colorado Avalanche."I like the big city that New York is. And I started to cheer for them when they brought in so many Czech players prior to this season. The Avs are among my favourite teams because of Milan Hejduk, who hails from the same town as me, Usti nad Labem."

Marek Troncinsky is focusing on relaxing in his free time. "Usually I relax by going to an internet cafe and read the news on the internet or by playing games on my computer. When I want to move my body, I hit the gym and work out to gain some extra strength." When it comes down to play some other sport than hockey, Troncinsky prefers to play either soccer or tennis. As an accomplished soccer player, he often meets his friends for a soccer match, but those meetings take place only during summer. Troncinsky didn't give up on his secondary education, but is likely to interrupt the studies. "I attend a high school which focuses on sports. It takes me a lot of time and because I practice with the senior team now, the time demands are too high to cope with both school and hockey. I won't be continuing studying for now"

The goal of Marek Troncinsky for the next season is making the Kladno senior team. He recently signed a pro contract with the Kladno seniors and he prefers competing in the Extraleague against seniors to playing major junior in Canada. His long-term goal is to make his living with playing hockey and hopefully one day perform as a pro player in the NHL or skate in Russia. "The NHL is my dream. I want to make it and despite the fact that Russia remains a possibility, I would prefer the NHL."Good luck!