Blackhawks Prospect Development Camp Highlight? Fifth-Round Pick Marcel Marcel "Dazzles" with Personality

There was no on-ice component at Chicago's camp. Even Connor Bedard had to leave his skates at home.

Top 2023 NHL draft pick Connor Bedard should have plenty of opportunities to flash his elite skating, shot and moves in a Blackhawks jersey.

But not until September.

By design, the Blackhawks 2023 prospect development camp included off-ice training and instruction only. So we didn't see Bedard even lace on his skates, let alone score jaw-dropping goals as he did in the 2023 World Junior Championships. See the doozy against Slovakia at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjpz12HYaY. Goalie Adam Gajan, drafted in the second round and 35th overall by the Blackhawks is in nets for this.

That left a big opening for a big kid, Marcel Marcel, at the team's practice facility last week. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound winger from Czechia barreled right through it in the media workroom at the Fifth Third Arena.

The 19-year-old from Plzen (Pilsen) didn't expect to be selected nearly as high as in the fifth round, 131st overall in the second day of the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville. A bathroom break nearly caused him to missed his name being called while waiting at his billet family's home.

Marcel moves well for a guy his size, but  needs to work on first-step quickness and more as he tries to turn pro. He'll probably do that this season with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL where he had 14 goals and 18 assists in 52 games in 2022-23.

See our story on the personable Marcel's description of his draft call at our story at  https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/features/dump-and-chase-fifth-round-blackhawks-pick-steals-show-from-connor-bedard-and-new-teammates

It includes this link from the Chicago Tribune's Phil Thompson,   https://twitter.com/_phil_thompson/status/1675222282229129216?s=20 who was recording video on his phone while the rest of us were recording audio and text.

Marcel was just as funny in describing a suspension last season for a nasty hit on a "smaller" opponent. At first, Marcel said it was a one-game suspension. Then it became two games, three or how many? https://twitter.com/_phil_thompson/status/1675216011992133634?s=20

A reporter asked Marcel if his name had ever been mixed up with that of famous French mime Marcel Marceau, who died in 2007 at age 84.  Marcel Marcel had a great answer. https://twitter.com/_phil_thompson/status/1675217999773540352?s=20

Marcel Marcel is right about searching his name on Google, BTW. Several photos of the winger come up, followed by a flurry of black-and-white pictures of Marceau.

Marcel even explained why his first and last name are the same, following in the footsteps of 20-year-old Czech center Ivan Ivan who just finished a productive third junior season with Cape Breton of the QMJHL.

“Sometimes when you’re in Czechia, they put your last name as the first and your first as the last,” Marcel said. “[So when my mom] went with my [older] brother to see a doctor, they called her Mrs. Patrick, because he’s Patrick Marcel. But she’s Marcel. 

"At first, she wanted to name him Marcel Marcel, but they couldn’t do it because of the government or something," he added. "When I came, it was the only option.

“I’m happy for that. There’s a lot of people who make fun of it like, ‘Whose name is that stupid?’ But it’s cool, I would say.”