This month 21-year-old centre Adam Musil played his first games for the Czech men's national ice hockey team. Previously, the dual citizen had represented the Czech Republic in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.

"It's a special moment for sure," he said after one of the exhibition games in the lead-up to the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Denmark. "It's something I've dreamed of since I was a little kid and I was a little bit nervous to start the first game, but it was good after the first shift and I'm just happy to get this chance."

In the second period of the Czechs' second game on home ice in Pribram against Switzerland, Musil registered his first point at the senior international level
when he led a rush up the ice and picked up an assist on the goal which gave his team a 3-0 lead.

"We kind of got stuck in the D zone for a little bit, but then I got the puck and we had an odd-man rush and we capitalized," he said of the play that was finished off by defenceman Adam Polasek. "It was a nice shot and it was nice to
see it go in."

Many hockey fans know that Adam is the younger brother of former Edmonton Oilers prospect David Musil and the son of long-time NHLer and Czechoslovak national team defenceman Frantisek Musil, but he also has strong hockey lineage
on his mother's side, as well. His uncle is NHL all-star and Stanley Cup champion Bobby Holik and his maternal grandfather was Jaroslav Holik, who along
with brother Jiri starred for Czechoslovakia in the ‘60s and early ‘70s. Between all six of them, they have over 80 seasons of professional hockey and 27 World Championship tournaments.

"I guess you could say we have quite a bit of hockey tradition in our family and it's nice to keep it going," he acknowledged. "Hopefully, I can play some more games here and do the best I can."

David and Adam were both born in Canada while their dad played in the NHL, but played their early hockey years in Jihlava, Czech Republic. The family moved back overseas when David started playing for the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants. From the age of 13, Adam played in the South Delta Minor Hockey Association and Burnaby Winter Club before going on to the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the British Columbia Major Midget League and the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. Along the way, he naturally got involved with Hockey Canada.

"When I was playing in Canada, I had that connection with those guys," he explained. "I was good friends with Matt Barzal - we played together in Burnaby
- and a bunch of other guys I played with."

He was a member of the Canadian U18 team that played and won the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in a part of the world he was well familiar with - Canada played and won four games in Piestany, Slovakia and then beat the host Czech Republic in the final in Breclav.

"That was fun," he recalled. "There were some special players on that team like
Mitch Marner, Dylan Strome, Travis Konecny, and other guys who are in the NHL now.

"At the time, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to play for Canada. Then later, I was spending my summers here and I had a good opportunity to play for the Czech team, so I grabbed it and it's been good so far."

Two years later, 19-year-old Musil played for the Czechs at the 2017 IIHF World
Junior Championship in Canada and had three assists in five games. In the meantime, he had been drafted by the St. Louis Blues and had become captain of the Rebels.

This past season was Musil's first in the pros, as he suited up for 54 games with the AHL's San Antonio Rampage, recording 11 points. However, he ended up coming overseas to join the Czech team before the team's season was over.

"It was a weird situation," he described. "St. Louis doesn't have a farm team in the AHL, so all the prospects were split onto different teams. I was with the Colorado Avalanche farm team."

Despite some difficulties, he said: "It was a really good experience. It was quite different coming from junior, where you're billeting and you have people taking care of you more, and now you have to do it all on your own. It was a bit of a change, but it was a learning process and I think I learned a lot of new things."

And spending the winter in Texas is a bit different than Alberta, as well. "The
weather's amazing. When I left, it was 30° Celsius and I got a little bit of a
tan," he laughed. "It was really nice."

Now he's in another new situation. For now, he's the only North American-trained player in a Czech camp that's full of guys who have played together for years.

"It's something new that just took a bit of adjustment, but the guys are really
nice and they've been helping me quite a bit, so it's been an easy transition."


And there's at least one familiar face in the group. "I've played with (goaltender) Patrik Bartosak in Red Deer. He's a great friend of mine and it's nice to see him here."

As more teams get knocked out of playoffs in various leagues, more players will
be added. Brother David's team, Ocelari Trinec, is still alive in the Czech Extraliga playoffs playing the final series against Kometa Brno, and he's a possible addition at some point, with Adam's national team jersey already sporting his first initial "A." before his last name. With all the new players still to come, it remains to be seen if a Musil can add a World Championship appearance to the family's total this season, but Adam's not looking that far ahead.

"I'm here for the camp and whatever happens," he said. "I'm just happy to get a
chance to showcase myself in some games."

DEREK O'BRIEN

http://2018.iihfworlds.com/en/news/hockey-in-the-blood/
--- SBBSecho 3.04-Win32
* Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)