This 6-foot-7 goalkeeper may be a large part of the future of Utah-Salt Lake Tribune hockey club

Michael Hrabal made his way to the bench.

Umass Amherst goalkeeper – and the best hockey candidate on Utah – were signaled by head coach Greg Carvel. The Hrabal Night will end in the first period.

It was the second game of the Umass series against Vermont University at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington. Hrabal gave up three goals in the evening before and, 14 minutes after the match on November 9, two more had received from 20-year-old Netminder.

A conversation with Carvel followed the loss.

“I met him and I just said,” Michael, that’s not good enough, “Carvel recalled. “I told him,” .920 is the highest minimum. You have to shoot for .930, .935 saved percentages. “More from this conversation he crawls.”

Hrabal was sustained for the following game against Providence College at the Umass Home Rigger, Mullins Center. However, the next evening on the road in Providence, Hrabal returned and published 34 rescues in a 5-1 victory over the brothers.

“The thing I really like about it is that it actually loves to be challenged. If you are not satisfied with him, he wants to know and he reacts very well to this, “Carvel said. “We took it out of this game, didn’t play it in the next game and I think it was really good reset. He admitted that it was necessary and appreciated it. It’s great to have children who value coaching. “

The Future of Hrabal in Utah

Hrabal-who was chosen from the second round of Arizona Coyoti, now hockey on Utah, in the NHL’s draft in 2023-went into his own NCAA hockey season.

He has the opportunity to play four years at the NCAA level at Umass. But players can become free agents from their teams after four seasons of hockey at college. This means that if Hrabal stayed in his senior year, he could have been looking to sign with a different NHL team from Utah.

That is why many management is likely to sign their prospects for their entry-level contracts after their junior season at college. Hrabal is now a sophomore, so he has at least another Umass campaign before making the transition.

While Utah goalkeeper Karel Veljalka will be an unlimited free agent at the end of this season, Connor Ingram has another year in his deal. Utah also has the opportunity to sign again the Jaxson Stauber-other Hockey East Stip-which is currently playing in AHL. There are options for both to make a place or fill the goalkeeper’s position for Utah while Hrabal continues to develop.

Hrabal said he was talking a week with Utah goalkeepers employees, which is beneficial for him. They discuss his last games, what to do in the position and conditioning to keep him on his way to his final dream.

As for the team that moves from Arizona to Utah? This is somewhat non -Factor for Hrabal. He refers to the same end point.

“NHL is NHL and that’s my goal,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you play it. I just want to get to the Ice of NHL and I will work for it. “

Finding its foundation

At the moment, however, everything is related to finding consistency.

The native of Prague, the Czech Republic has had some adaptations since he came to play hockey in North America. Hrabal made a jump in the 2022-23 season to join the US Hockey League (USHL) after playing exclusively in his home country for his entire teenage career.

Omaha, Nebraska, was Hrabal’s new home as he won the Lancers network.

“I have always wanted to play hockey in college since my childhood, so I knew that if I wanted to get there, I had to leave. Fortunately, USHL was one of the options, “Hrabal said. “It was a big change. Leaving home, living for the first time without my parents. It was a big change, but the league was great. ”

In the first and the only and only, seasoned Lancers, he had a savings percentage of .908 and 2.86 goals on average. Higher-level repeated ones helped prepare him for his freshman at Umass in 2023-24.

Hrabal had a display during his debut season in the Hockey East-one of the most competitive conferences in the hockey hockey. It ended the year with .912 SV% and 2.59 GAA in 30 games.

“I think like most children who come here, the skill set is already there. They just have to ripen. They need to find combinations that help them be more consistent, “Carvel said. “I think this is the biggest thing about Michael – finding a consistency in his game because he has so many assets of his size, mobility and competition.”

Since withdrawing the series in November against Vermont, Hrabal found another level in his game. He is more predictable, Carvel said, and his team knows what to expect from him in a night-that is, in time, he saves in a strong athleticism in his unique 6-foot-7 frame.

The thing with college is also that there is a turnover of the list every season, as the players end, enter the NHL and have the choice to transfer. Accordingly, the protection for Hrabal looks a little different.

Four of Umass’s eight defenders are freshmen this season who learn hockey east ropes in real time. Last year, Hrabal had two American defenders, Ryan Ufko and Scott Morow-Ig, a big role to help him. Both Ufko and Morrow are already with their NHL organizations.

Umass is now one of only nine teams in the country with four or more freshmen’s defenders in its list this season. Moreover, the team has dressed at least three freshmen in all, except two games so far.

“College can be a little easier for systemic because your team helps you a lot more. But you play every team in the hockey east – every team is good. This is a very heavy league. Many Blueline shots, many screens, tips, “Hrabal said. “These are older players, it’s faster. You just adapt to the level and try to strain yourself to improve yourself every day. ”

The World Junior Stage is another place that Hrabal has strengthened its game. The goalkeeper presented the Czech Republic in international tournaments in the last four years and won bronze at the Junior Youth World Cup in 2025.

Hrabal started in six of the seven games of the Czech Republic in the best tournament. His performance with 29 reserved to beat Canada 4-3 in the quarterfinals was an accent.

“It’s always great to put the T -shirt on your national team. It just makes you feel proud, ”Hrabal said. “It is huge to play against other best players in the world. This pushes you forward. You see what you need to do and I think it really helped me in my career. ”

Hrabal faces some of the best players in his age group and in the hockey east too. The eagles of the Boston College-which Hrabal and the No. 16-Classified Umass have divided a series with last weekend ranked # 1 in the nation and have NHL-Caliber talents such as Ryan Leonard, James Hagens and Gabe Perra, firing shots all night.

Hrabal retreated Umass to a 3-2 victory in the Conte’s enemy with 37 saves. Of the two goals allowed, one was in the play of power at the Boston College, and the other came when the eagles slid 6 to 5. Hrabal stopped every 5 to 5 chance.

“For goalkeepers, they have to play a lot. They need to get a lot of repetition. This is the great thing about this level – the number of frames he receives in practice every week and then he plays almost every game for us, “Carvel said. “He is at this conference, where every night he plays the top 10 team in the country with exceptional players trying to get against it.”

While the challenge, the opponents of Hrabal takes now, he will only make it better after he has overcome it on Utah. However, they may be several years.

“He with Michael he is a starting goalkeeper in a very good situation. Goalkeepers take longer. So for him I think he has to come back here for another year, “Carvel said. “He has a place for growth. I really like his trajectory. He just needs time. It’s time to mature, get stronger. It’s time to get more reps here before it’s ready for the next level. “