Jakub Sirota of C.R. RoughRiders learns the North American game

CEDAR RAPIDS — There's the living-away-from-home part of it.

Being from another country, learning the language, the food, the lifestyle and the people. That's not easy.

Then there's the actual hockey part of it. The rinks are longer and wider in Europe than they are in North America, if you didn't know.

It's a different game in many respects.

'This year, I think I've changed as a player,' Cedar Rapids RoughRiders defenseman Jakub Sirota said. 'I used to be a real offensive defenseman, used to play with the puck a lot. Now here, with the smaller rinks, you just need to move the puck better, faster, and then follow the rush.'

Sirota is from Kromeriz, Czech Republic, the most highly touted RoughRider, at least in the 18-year-old age group. The Central Scouting Bureau came out with its midterm rankings of 2017 National Hockey League draft-eligible players earlier this week, and Sirota was No. 113 among North American skaters.

That means there's a better than fair chance some NHL team will select him.

'It's huge,' he said. 'To get drafted would be really good. But I still want to go to college.'

Which is why Sirota made the move to the United States Hockey League this season. He was drafted by the Des Moines Buccaneers but traded to Cedar Rapids at the end of the preseason.

Minutes from the regular-season roster freeze in late September, to be exact.

'I was really surprised,' Sirota said. 'It was like the last possible hour, too. It was Monday, I was going to bed, and I was like 'All right, it's good, I'm not going to get traded.' Then my billet father came to my room and said that I'd been traded.'

A combination of factors have limited him to 18 games for the Riders, who played Team USA Friday night at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Cedar Rapids hosts Madison on Saturday night at approximately 7:15.

Sirota has three goals and a pair of assists, having scored in back-to-back games going into Friday. His minus-seven plus-minus rating is respectable for a team that has struggled as the RoughRiders have this season.

'He's come a long way so far this year,' Riders Coach Mark Carlson said. 'He's kind of been in and out of the lineup quite a bit this season for a number of different reasons. Illness and injury at times, missed five games playing for the Czech team in the World Junior 'A' Challenge. But he's really working hard and improving. Got a chance to be a real good two-way defenseman. One that can help you win defensively and also on the offensive side.'

Sirota is friends with fellow Czech Lukas Buchta, a sophomore defenseman for the University of Nebraska-Omaha. It was Buchta's advice that also steered him toward the USHL and college hockey.

His English is good, improved since his initial arrival to the States.

'I've never had any trouble speaking English. I just needed more grammar, more vocabulary,' Sirota said. 'I know a few guys from the Czech Republic that play college hockey, and they told me to come to (the USHL) to get an education and play hockey. You can't do that in Europe. There are no programs for that.'

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