The Vancouver Whalers shocked the SMJHL world by taking Miroslav Ketil with their 3rd overall selection in the recent J draft. The rookie defenseman had a respectable first year, but many would argue he did not live up to the hype of being selected third overall. The offensive minded defenseman put up 23 points, 7 goals and 16 assists, over the course of 66 games. The young player's best stat; however, was his 38 takeaways to just 23 giveaways and his 75 blocks.

Most people already knew all of that, but what a lot of people don't know is the background of the young Czechian player. Miroslav Ketil comes from a mixed Czechian/Danish family where his Danish father played forward in some European leagues in Switzerland and Germany, but never broke into the SHL scene. His mother was a Czechian woman who was never a professional sports player, but enjoyed playing recreational tennis. Ketil was born to this mixed nationality family in the month of October, and quickly grew into a kid who was obviously above average athletically. In his younger years, Ketil played hockey in some local leagues around Czechia, but his true breakout didn't come until he was around the age of 13 when his growth spurts really started taking effect. He broke into the national teams for U15 Czechia players at the age of 13, and started every game since then.

His father said he knew Miroslav would be a great player when he was young because his skating was better than anyone his ages, but his rapid growth made it harder for the young teenager to fit into his new frame. These small difficulties were quickly grown out of as the young blueliner showed his prowess for defensive positioning and his wonderful eye for passing lanes on the powerplay. He played his way onto the Czechia national U18 team, and played for them for 2 seasons before being recruited to the reserve pools of the Czechia National Juniors team. His exposure to SMJHL scouts and the Whalers scouts specifically started when he played against the Dutch team being led by Billy Blazes. This was the European Hockey Championships in the quarter finals match between the Netherlands and Czechia. The game was playing out pretty evenly before Ketil caught Blazes behind his net with a big hit that immediately incensed Blazes to provoke Ketil, but Ketil didn't oblige. This led to Blazes' ejection and eventually Czechia's victory. Allegedly, Vancouver's scouts were so enamored by the play that they kept tabs on the player for years until the J draft.

I was able to get Miroslav Ketil to answer about this game and his current outlook on the SHL and here is what he had to say:

Me: "Since you and Billy Blazes have been drafted to different teams, everyone has dug up the tapes of that fated matchup in the EHC Quaterfinals. People want to know what you think of that incident and game 3 years later."

Ketil: "I remember that game very clearly, and I stand by my decision not to drop my gloves with that plug. Fighting there would've gotten us both thrown out and ultimately hurt my team's chances of winning the tournament. I understand Billy being upset, but he lives up to his name and blows up quite spectacularly. I was there to win, and that's what we did. The hit was clean; he knows that, I know that, you know that. Him and I have talked since then and while we aren't exactly friends, we understand that we've moved on to a new rivalry here in the SMJHL."

The young defenseman seemed fiery when talking about the rivalry with Billy Blazes, and that could be an intense storyline to keep track of in the future for years to come.

My follow-up question concerned his arrival in the SMJHL and his first season:

Me: "A lot of people feel like your first year didn't live up to the hype of what they expected from a 3rd overall pick. Do you feel like your first season was a struggle?"

Ketil: "I had a rough year offensively, which is my main game so I understand how it would look like a down year, but I feel like I can only grow from here. I had solid defensive metrics, but my shot wasn't at the right level this year, and I will need to improve that because I want to be a threat to score. I need goalies to respect my shot in order to open up my passing lanes, and I just didn't scare anyone when I took a shot this year. We, as a team, took this year for what it was, a rebuilding year, and fully expect to take a leap this offseason and improve next year. It was a learning experience and I am very grateful to have such a good group of guys around me to make the poor outings a little easier to stomach."

The former 3rd overall pick of the Whalers seems to have a level head about his shortcomings this season, and understands that he can only get better from here. Vancouver management has expressed absolute faith in Ketil and we will have to see if he can blossom the way they have faith he can.

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Miroslav Ketil
Next Great Whaler
S64 VAN - 66 GP - 7 G - 16 A - 23 P
S65 VAN - 66 GP - 16 G - 24 A - 40 P
S66 VAN - 66 GP - 21 G - 33 A - 54 P

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