There was carryover for Fiala when he returned to his junior team in Sweden with HV71 Jonkoping. He believes his confidence grew and that was evident in performance. Fiala played well enough to eventually get called up to the big team in the Swedish Hockey League where he impressed head coach Ulf Dahlen, no stranger to success as a player.

“I have seen him in training and he is very skilled with the puck,” said Dahlen after Fiala’s first game with HV71. “He'll work a little on the game without the puck, that's the big piece that he needs to improve but there is a lot of talent no doubt about.”

He also played for the U18 team that, as he recalls, was on a good competitive level, too. But the jump into the highest echelon of international hockey is another matter altogether.

World Championship hockey is the the most competitive of the IIHF annual tournaments. The players are bigger, faster and possessing of more international and professional experience than Fiala has faced before.

“This is a very big level here where you have NHL players like Ovechkin; I’ve never played against anybody like him,” said Fiala. “But it is fun to play against guys like him and other experienced players, to challenge them and learn from them.”

Fiala is draft eligible and that will open up additional opportunities in future years but, for now, he is focused on turning around Swiss fortunes here in Minsk.

“I’m not thinking about the draft right now. I only care about this tournament and helping my team. Let’s see what happens after.”