Pobezal Adjusting to Life in Kingston, 7,028km Away from Home
OHL Kingston Frontenacs

Pobezal Adjusting to Life in Kingston, 7,028km Away from Home

Published on November 3, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kingston Frontenacs News Release


With nine points through his first 15 Ontario Hockey League games, Puchov, Slovakia, native Tomas Pobezal said he's starting to feel at home in Kingston.

The Frontenacs forward, whose rights were acquired from the Kitchener Rangers in a trade on June 9th, 2025 has come a long way, literally and figuratively, to flank Jacob Battaglia and Tyler Hopkins on the club's top line.

"I started (playing hockey) around three, four years old," Pobezal said following a recent home game, his English remarkably good through his thick Slovak accent. "In my hometown, a little city in Slovakia."

Puchov, Slovakia is an industrial town in the middle of Puchov District in Slovakia, with a population close to 18,000. It's also 7,028 kilometres from Kingston, putting the 19-year-old a long way from where it all began.

In fact, it was only a half dozen or so years ago, according to Pobezal, that he even began to entertain the notion that he was a special hockey talent.

"I was around 12, 13." he answered when asked when he began to develop elite hockey skills. By then, Pobezal said, he was already playing against players older than him, including his brother. "He was two years older than me at the time," he said. "I played with him."

Just last season, Pobezal was lining up against men older than him when he played for HK Nitra of Slovak Extraliga. In 45 regular season appearances, Pobezal tallied 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points as an 18-year-old at Slovakia's highest level. He added a goal and three assists in 20 playoff games. He also represented Slovakia at the 2025 World Junior Championship, appearing in all five of his team's games.

"I was there two years and the first year, it was so hard," Pobezal admitted of Slovak Extraliga. "But in the second year, last year, it was better because I knew what to expect. It was still hard - compared to this league - mostly because there were a lot of older guys, which can be very tough. The guys are bigger, stronger."

Just a couple of short months after his season ended, Pobezal, who cited fellow Slovak legends Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa as among his hockey heroes, found himself literally across the world, signing an OHL Scholarship & Development Agreement with the Frontenacs.

"It was my plan with my agent to play this season in the OHL," Pobezal said. But rather than that being with the Rangers, which drafted Pobezal in the first round, 25th, of the 2023 OHL Import Draft, it ended up further east down Highway 401. "They traded me to Kingston, but I'm very glad to be here because it's a nice organization."

Pobezal admitted he got a one-game sneak preview of Kingston and club's downtown Slush Puppie Place home when he represented his country in the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, when Kingston hosted a pre-tournament exhibition game featuring his Slovak club.

Pobezal also had a friend and teammate who was playing with the Fronts at that time in Jakub Chromiak, the former import defenceman who played 51 games with Kingston in the 2023-24 season and playoffs.

"I was here for that one game and Chromiak was playing here," Pobezal said. "He told me about Kingston, about the arena, about the city. It's a very nice city and a very nice arena."

Slowly but surely, Pobezal said, he's adapting to his new life and new team, having settled into Kingston with his billet family off the ice.

"It's a little different living with a billet family, but she helps me a lot and it's very good," Pobezal said. "And I live with my teammate, Riley Clark, and he has helped me a lot, too."

Meanwhile, on the ice, he's settled in with his hockey family, finding a spot on head coach Troy Mann's top line, alongside National Hockey League draft picks Hopkins and Battaglia.

"It's different," he said of playing in the OHL. "Everything is different from Slovakia because it's a new language, new players, it's a younger league. They help me a lot," he said referring to his linemates.

He also said he's thrilled to be playing under the guidance of Mann. "He's a nice coach. I heard very good things about him so I'm happy to be here and have him coaching me."

Pobezal, having recently heard about how the Toronto Maple Leafs pranked draft pick and former London Knights forward Easton Cowan by making him think he was stuck with a large restaurant bill recently, said he's not completely let his guard down as a new player to Kingston.

"I'm waiting for some pranks," he said with a laugh. "I'm watching."

After notching his fourth goal of the season last Saturday against Niagara, Pobezal continues to look more comfortable with each passing game.

"It's different than playing in a pro men's league in Slovakia," he admitted. "I need a little bit of time, but I think I will get better game to game."

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2025


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