Fronk makes immediate impact for RoughRiders

CEDAR RAPIDS - Some guys just have the knack. Jiri Fronk is one of them.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders winger leads the United States Hockey League with 17 goals in 20 games. He has scored in five games in a row and seven of his team's last eight.

The Riders (18-2) host Bloomington at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena at 7:05 Saturday night.

'He goes to the net front,” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson. 'He's got a pretty good touch, and I think he loves scoring, too. As silly as that sounds, he just loves it. He wants to do it.”

Fronk has combined with center Andrew Oglevie and winger Erik Foley for an uber forward line. The trio has combined for 32 goals and 39 assists and has a combined plus-minus rating of plus-54.

Those are outrageous numbers.

'It's a very good line,” Fronk said. 'I like playing with those boys.”

'Obviously, Jiri's got a good shot,” Oglevie said. 'It always seems when I get the puck, I look up, and he's just wide open. I just get it to him, the kid scores. He's got a knack. Being in the right place at the right time, it's an instinct, really. It's an instinct when it comes to scoring goals.”

The RoughRiders were clued into Fronk's desire to come to North America over the summer. The 20-year-old Czech Republic native was supposed to join a major junior team in Canada last season, but his club team back home wouldn't relinquish his rights.

The squabble went all the way to hockey's world governing body, the International Ice Hockey Federation, which ruled in favor of his Czech club. Unlike his teammates, Fronk has no desire to pursue college hockey, instead playing here in order to make himself visible to National Hockey League teams.

He is eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft and is certain to be taken. Carlson said he has heard from about a dozen clubs about him.

'I want to play pro hockey,” Fronk said. 'I haven't talked to any teams, they only talk to my agent (advisor). I will play here this season, then maybe I will talk to teams. I don't know, yet.”

'He has done a nice job, but, at the same time, it's only 20 games, right?” Carlson said. 'We really liked him as soon as we saw him, we thought he had really nice ability. At that time, it was a very simple decision to have him on our team. He has adjusted nicely. We thought he was going to be a very good player, but I don't think anybody would say they thought he'd come in and score this way.”

Fronk came here this fall with an extremely limited grasp of English. He has gotten much better with the language thank to the help of his coaches, teammates and billet family.

RoughRiders defenseman Mitch Reinke is his housemate and has been a Godsend, ferrying him to and from practice each day and around town as needed. There is a translation phone application everyone has used regularly as well, to make sure there are no communication breakdowns.

'It hasn't really been too tough,” Oglevie said. 'I've had to kind of sit there with his translator and figure some words out. Stuff like that. But he's been pretty receptive and what not.”

'Mitch helps me all the time,” Fronk said. 'I like everything here. It's very different than the Czech Republic. It is hard for me because my English is bad. It is different hockey, different food, different people. Everything is different. I miss my family, my friends, Czech food.”

His favorite Czech foods are duck and rabbit. Considering the way he is scoring goals, someone out there ought to make him a meal.

'It gets harder every night,” Carlson said. 'It's going to be harder tomorrow (for him) than it was last week. It's going to be harder in two weeks than it will be tomorrow. He's got to keep battling and working. But he's got a passion for the game and keeps working.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com