Written by Judd Spicer
It’s mid-afternoon on a Firebirds’ off-day, and CV rookie Eduard Sale – part tenant; part babysitter; part rising star – is readying to take kids for a skate at the Berger Foundation Iceplex.
Not his kids. Teammate Ales Stezka’s kids.
The kid gig isn’t some stage of rookie hazing for the 19-year-old Sale, but rather a welcome responsibility while Stezka, now since returned, was up with the Kraken.
Shortly after being assigned to the ‘Birds this fall, Sale was invited into the home of his Czech Republic countryman.
“The Stezkas have helped me a lot,” says Sale. “He (Ales) just asked me if I wanted to stay with them. And I said that, ‘I’d like to, but do you have a spare bedroom?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ And living with them, it’s so easy for me; I feel like I have a free head to just go play hockey. I really appreciate them; it’s so much better than staying in a hotel alone.”
For the 20th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, taking the Stezka progeny for a skate proves a small ask in exchange for enjoying the home’s creature comforts of family and familiarity. Such accommodation for Sale comes amid living and playing in his third country over a span of as many years, having collected flight miles near equal to the breadth of the young forward’s vast potential.
Having spent a year-plus in the Czech Extraliga (the country’s highest-level league) as a 17-year-old, after which the Kraken made him their first-round selection, Sale segued to Canada for the 2023-24 season, playing for both Barrie and Kitchener of the OHL. The fast path across continents and, soon, to the AHL, do not a typical journey make.
“A lot of those players from the Canadian junior hockey ranks aren’t allowed to join our team (or league) until they turn 20, but it’s a unique situation with him being drafted out of Europe, which made him eligible,” says Troy Bodie, CV’s vice president of hockey operations. “It was a big step for him last year, a different step. Going from playing with men in the Czech Republic to playing in the OHL against peers his age, and doing it in a different country, different (narrower) ice surface, different language. And then, from there, coming to Coachella Valley.”
Eligibility aside, rules don’t always dictate readiness.
“Most kids at 20 aren’t ready for our league; it’s a league of adults, and many of these kids aren’t yet physically developed enough to come play,” Bodie continues. “But it is unique with him. It’s not often that players are really good enough to play in the men’s pro leagues at such a young age.”
As the player will grant, being unique didn’t fast translate to a head-turning campaign for Sale in ’23. Rather, the adjustments to being over 4,000 miles away from home required ample adjustment.
“It was a tough year away from family and friends; that was the biggest difference for me,” says Sale of his OHL season. “The hockey was still new for me, too, but it’s still hockey. But everything outside of hockey was different for me, so maybe that’s why my performance wasn’t that good or why I didn’t feel that great. For performance, you need to be comfortable with where you are with everything outside of hockey.”
With time, said comforts crept in, seeing Sale ultimately recording 30 points in his 34 total games with Kitchener.
Come summer, unknows proved prevalent, begging questions about Sale’s season ensuing. Would he return to play in the Czech Republic? Another season in the Canadian major juniors? Could he perhaps make the Kraken roster? Or was he destined for the desert?
“When I came back home, I was thinking about where I’d go for this season,” recalls Sale. “What I told my agent and everybody was, ‘Yes, I want to play in the AHL.’ I was 100 percent sure that I could play in this league, so I just worked out every day, all summer, and I felt good at the Kraken camp. After they sent me here, I was very happy.”
Now 11 Firebirds’ games into his rookie season (having appeared in eight contests), Sale isn’t the only one smiling.
Through his first eight games played, Sale has eight points (two goals and a team-high six assists), which has him tied for a CV-best point tally (alongside fellow ‘Birds rookie, Jagger Firkus) and tracks him among the AHL’s top-13 rookie point scorers.
“Eduard is a special talent,” says Bodie. “He’s come in here and shown exactly why he was such a high draft pick and valuable piece of our organization. A very, very intelligent hockey player with an elite skill set; he’s an elite passer with a sneaky hard shot, and a sneaky/quick release. When you see his skills come to life like this, you can see he’s getting comfortable in his role with the Firebirds. But at the same time he’s still a young man, and there’s a lot of developing to do. Yet he’s on a great path with us.”
And did the V.P. of Hockey Ops anticipate such early returns?
“I can’t say I’m totally surprised, because we knew the talent level that he has, knew he would be a high-end offense player,” adds Bodie. “Did I know it was going to come right away like it is now, and be a point-per-game player? Couldn’t say I would’ve bet my career on that. But we did know that this level of play was possible; we’re definitely not surprised that he’s showing this ability.”
With Sale noting that he connects with family daily (and that his parents watch his games via live steam at 4:00 a.m. in the Czech Republic), being around valley family has proven a founding for success for a guy still more than a year away from being able to legally buy a Pilsner Urquell.
“Eduard comes to the rink every day very happy, and a big part of that is having a fellow countryman there in Ales Stezka,” Bodie says. “With the Stezkas having taken Eduard into their home here, it says a lot about who Ales is – taking in a young guy, mentoring him, showing him the way of living in the United States; and I’m sure Ales’ wife is helping him cook meals and stuff like that. And I’m also sure that Eduard is paying it back with some babysitting time with the Stezka’s two kids.”
For Sale, it would seem the path to stardom involves more than merely prepping his own game.
“We’re playing ‘mini sticks’ with the kids all the time,” smiles Sale of life in the Stezka home. “And with Stez up in Seattle (on emergency basis), I’ll help with the kids more; help them put on their gear for the Iceplex.”