Marek Blaha

Born: 2002-03-08

Team: TUTO Hockey U20

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Height / Weight: 5-7 / 132

REPORT: HPK @ TUTO U20, FEBRUARY 27, 2021

The 5’7″ defenseman from Czech Republic displayed great skating ability. He is an economical skater with a clean stride and very good lateral mobility. His transition skating is superb as well. He has swift hands, he can pick pucks quickly off the wall and make a play. He was reliable on the breakout as he sensed pressure well and moved pucks into good spots. His gap control in the neutral zone was pretty good. He lacks ideal strength and can be separated from the puck fairly easily at times. He didn’t bring a ton of offense in this game, but he did show some composure with the puck.

REPORT: TUTO @ ILVES U20, NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Blaha logged almost 27 minutes of ice-time and recorded six shot attempts in a 5-1 loss to Ilves. The small right-shot defenseman from Prague, Czech Republic lacked strength and length, but his skating allowed him to close gaps very quickly. A terrific, economical skater with above average east-west movement. He moved with his head up. He managed surprisingly well defensively, broke up plays with his stick and even threw a solid open ice hit to suffocate an opposing rush in the neutral zone. At times it took time for him to move the puck up the ice and his passing could have been more precise. I was impressed with his defensive prowess – a lack of size did not hinder his impact. His ability to apply puck pressure was an asset.