Jakub Zboril

Darren Walker

Zboril is a silky smooth defender with an elite understanding of where the play is headed.
Amazing feet and constantly makes high-end reads on the breakout. He plays a pretty complete
game, but primarily relies on his footwork to get the job done. He has nice speed in open ice and has
the ability to make the other team miss with some fancy footwork and head fakes. His skating is
also key in races to loose pucks and catching forwards. It takes him very few steps to catch up to
opposing forwards or make it to a loose puck first. Cannot be pressured by forecheckers as he can
simply skate himself out of danger with his great feet. He also has an absolute cannon from the
point, and what really makes him dangerous is that he gets it off in no time. He makes the decision
very quickly to shoot the puck or make another play, either way, the puck is not on his stick for
very long. It’s pretty accurate and it’s as hard as they come. Has great vision and is also a solid
carrier of the puck. Joins the rush pretty often. Defensively, he doesn’t like to initiate and uses
his stick more consistently than his body. But when he does use his physical side he is very
dangerous and extremely tough to play against. He is a bit of a sleeping bear as he picks
up the physical game and edge when someone pisses him off in front of the net or after the
whistle. When he plays with that edge opponents need to watch out as he will line them
up and try to take their heads off with a big devastating check. He also does not telegraph
when he is coming, which makes him scary. Not afraid to push, shove, face-wash or even
apply a little slash to an opponents calf in a scrum. His defensive reads are solid and he
knows who to cover. Good on penalty kill, but not great. Plays smart hockey, and learns
from his mistakes.  (May 2015)