Panthers Prospect Marek Alscher Ready for Second Chance With Czechia at the World Juniors

Last January in Halifax, while Czechia played for World Junior gold, Marek Alscher cheered on his teammates from the crowd.

Alscher, then 18, was part of the 2023 Czech World Junior team — but the Florida Panthers’ 2022 draft pick did not play in any of the games for the eventual silver medalists.   

One year later, Alscher is back with the Czech national junior team. This time, he’s expected to play a larger role as one of the few returning players at the tournament in Gothenburg. 

“I’m super excited,” Alscher told Five Reasons Sports ahead of the tournament. “Last year I was able to be part of the team. Not really playing but that’s maybe some extra motivation for me personally. I know how it was, I want to feel that again.”

The Czechs surprised a lot of people at the 2023 tournament — topping their group en route to the gold medal game — their first since the 2001 tournament. 

Despite not playing, Alscher didn’t feel as if he was left out of the journey.

“It was incredible, I wasn’t playing but still, I was in the locker room, the guys did include me in the team and I really felt like I was playing,” Alscher said. “After every game we actually felt like our heart rate was similar to playing. When we scored, we jumped with the fans. It was a really good experience.”

After the Czechs went home with their first medal in 18 years, Alscher’s schedule didn’t get any easier. 

He returned to Portland and played in the WHL Playoffs with the Winterhawks. Then, he joined Florida’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, for their Calder Cup playoff run on an ATO — skating and training with the team.

Later in the summer, Alscher was back in Coral Springs for the Florida Panthers Development Camp, Rookie Camp, and eventually, his second NHL Training Camp. 

Alscher got to experience another year of Paul Maurice’s infamous training camp skates in South Florida and play in a preseason game before being returned to his junior club. 

“This year I felt much more comfortable [at camp],” Alscher said. “I knew more guys and was comfortable talking in the locker room.”

Reflecting on his camp with the Panthers, Alscher mentioned that there was one notable player that really stood out to him in the locker room. It was fellow European defensemen and newly acquired Panther, Oliver Ekman-Larsson. 

“I had a chance to talk with Ekman-Larsson who was sitting next to me. I just remember how friendly he was,” Alscher said. “He really made me even more comfortable before the game. We talked like 10-15 minutes. I just remember how nice he was. On the bench. In the locker room. He really helped me a lot.”

When Ekman-Larsson learned that Alscher was moved by his actions, it took the veteran defenseman back to when he was learning the ropes as teenager in the NHL.

“[I] just try to go back to when I got into the league, my first training camp,” Ekman-Larsson said. “Just trying to be a good person and try to help other people out… People around cared about me when I first got into the league and I have a lot of thanks for those kinds of people. I think it goes a long way.”

Ekman-Larsson, 32, has had quite the NHL career before he joined the Panthers in the offseason. 

He has over 900 NHL games played, captained an NHL franchise and won a plethora of medals representing Sweden across international tournaments such as the Olympics and 

World Championships. But, before any of that happened — like Alscher — Ekman-Larsson played in the World Juniors.

“That tournament is a great experience. It was for me,” Ekman-Larsson said. “We came up a little bit short but it was still an unbelievable tournament.” Ekman-Larsson and Sweden took home the bronze medal back at the 2010 tournament in Saskatoon — Alscher was five at the time.

Alscher said that seeing how Ekman-Larsson carried himself has helped him take a leadership approach to younger players, both at his club team in Portland and with the Czech national team.

“It matters what you do on the ice, but also off the ice. What person are you in the locker room,” Alscher added. “ “That’s something that I’d take from him.”

The World Juniors is an extremely intriguing tournament. It’s the highest level of junior hockey you can find anywhere in the world. Games are played in front of thousands, with millions watching on television globally. Don’t forget, these players who are representing their countries on the highest stage  are all teenagers.  

Obviously every team at the tournament has their eyes set on a medal. That should be no different for the defending silver medalists, Czechia.

 “We are always looking for the best, we want to get the furthest. Whether it’s bronze, silver or gold, the sky’s the limit in here,” Alscher said. “Our goal is just to work as hard as we can and get as far as we can.”

As a 19-year-old, Alscher will age out following this year’s World Juniors in Gothenburg. When asked what he wants to take away from the tournament, the young defenseman took a page out of Ekman-Larsson’s book of leadership.

“We were struggling a bit before I left in Portland. If we are going to have a good tournament, that’s what I would love to bring to the team,” Alscher said. “It’s hard to say now before the tournament… but yea it’s probably what I would say. Just a winning mentality.”