Best friends Laskova, Vanisova determined to make it as Czech players in the PWHL

Dominika Laskova remembers waiting for a pass that never landed on her stick.

Laskova was 12 years old taking the ice for the Czech Republic's under-15 national camp. Her teammate, Tereza Vanisova, was hogging the puck.

"I don't want to say we didn't like each other, but Tereza kind of didn't pass to anybody," Laskova said from the Verdun Auditorium. "She was kind of selfish on the ice."

Fifteen years later, the two Czech players are best friends — and sharing more than just a puck.

Laskova and Vanisova are the only Europeans on Montreal's Professional Women's Hockey League team, pursuing hockey careers that have led them both to new lives in Canada.

The two 27-year-olds were drafted together by Montreal and moved close to the team's primary arena in the city's Verdun borough. They also shared an apartment as members of the Premier Hockey Federation's Toronto Six last season.

Vanisova, doing her best to shake the `puck hog' label Laskova tagged her with so many years ago, had a team-leading four assists through four games entering Tuesday's game against New York. Laskova hadn't yet found the scoresheet.

Laskova says Vanisova is a "fast" player. Vanisova describes Laskova as skilled and smart: "She can see the ice very well."

Off the ice they find ways to blow off the pressure of playing high-stakes hockey — and keeping homesickness at bay.

"We're in the same boat, and it's like, if I have a bad day, she kind of knows what it feels like," Laskova said. "Just being away from family and like being a European and having a different culture and stuff like that, it's always nice to have somebody who can understand that."

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