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Well-travelled David Czechs in

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Tony Hand has completed his summer of Phoenix team recruiting with the addition of much travelled and widely experienced Czech defenceman David Vychodil.

Hand smiled cannily as he noted, "David is a great signing for the team, I'm very pleased to have got him because there was plenty of interest in him. He's got good size, has great experience from playing in his homeland, North America and Russia, came well recommended and is a very good finish to the recruiting part of the year."

A product of the Dukla Jihlava junior system in the Czech Republic, the 26-year old left-shot blueliner whose name is pronounced 'Vick-o-dil', stands 6-feet and tips the scales around the 15-stone mark has played in the East Coast and United Hockey Leagues in North America as well as the highly-regarded Czech Extraliga and last year starred for Metallurg Serov in Russia.

Delighted at having joined the Phoenix, David commented, "I'm really pleased to be coming to England and I want to do my very best for the team. Describing his play he said, "I like to be offensive but, only when it's right for me to jump up in the play. It has to be a smart move or I won't go. I'm a team player, that is my first focus and my own points do not bother me. It's more important that the team wins than whether I score or not. I like to skate, think my shot from the point is quite good and I like to play a physical game."

He expanded on his experience adding, "Playing in both North America and Russia has been a marvellous experience for me, I learnt a lot. In America, the rinks are smaller, there are more shots and the game is more physical. In Russia, the game is faster with more skating, more skilful and you have to play intelligently on the bigger ice. Both were great times for me although the 10-hour flights to away games in Russia were very tiring. I don't think the travelling in Britain will be as hard nor the winters as cold."

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• Profile for David Vychodil