The Capitals are fortunate to have some strong goalie stocks in the form of Stanley Cup hero Braden Holtby and reliable current backup Pheonix Copley. This depth extends down to Hershey where Ilya Samsonov and Czech product Vitek Vanecek.
Vanecek, 23, a native of Havlickuv Brod in the Czech Republic, is the Bears’ current starting goaltender and is a key contributor to Hershey’s recent strong form and playoff push. He was selected as Hershey’s sole representative for the 2019 AHL All Star Game earlier this year.
Vanecek worked his way through local U16, U18 and U20 teams in Havlickuv Brod from 2009, posting strong statistics at the Junior level with his SVS% not slipping under .