Frank, Napravnik Acclimating Themsevles To Pro Hockey In Hershey

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HERSHEY, Pa - Two hockey players from very different backgrounds, who took similar paths through the USHL and then on to NCAA teams that very nearly met in the 2022 Frozen Four, suddenly found themselves teammates in the AHL. They played their first professional games within a week of each other, are currently enjoying the amenities at the Hershey Lodge, and are just genuinely happy to be learning the professional hockey game in Hershey.

Ethen Frank, who played in his first professional hockey game in Allentown Tuesday night and scored a powerplay goal in his second pro game Friday night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, played in the USHL prior to heading off to play collegiately in the NCAA.

Julian Napravnik played in his first professional game Sunday at Giant Center. Like Frank, he also played in the USHL before heading the college hockey route.

Frank, who was born in Denver, moved to Nebraska with his family when he was young when his father "bought a roller rink" and moved the family to Nebraska where Frank then transitioned to playing ice hockey.

"I was told that dad had a better business opportunity in Nebraska (and) that's where we're going, so I didn't have much of a say at that age," Frank said recalling the move when he was around 10 years old. "But ya know, I adjusted pretty well and I like it. Yeah, cornfields, plains and cornfields? Yeah, no, it wasn't terrible. I was obviously young enough where I don't remember a whole lot of it now, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did."

While Frank was adapting to new surroundings, Napravnik was growing up in Germany, playing hockey and learning English as part of his schooling, but he too would wind up in the Midwest playing USHL hockey for the Des Moines Buccaneers.

"Coming over here, I thought I could speak pretty good English," Napravnik laughed. "And then I was sitting in the locker room and I'm like, 'What the hell is going on? I don't understand the words'. Picking up the slang and all that was the biggest part. And I think just now like, it's my sixth year now so I'm getting kind of better."

From Nebraska, Frank chose Western Michigan, not the University of Nebraska-Omaha - which might seem odd on the surface.

"They are in the same conference as UNO and UNO kind of ghosted me, never really set up a visit with me; (Western Michigan) told me they wanted to and so they were in the same conference," Frank said. "And in juniors, I played in Lincoln and not in Omaha. And so everybody thought that I chose that route for some reason. So (I went) on to Western and was very happy with it."

That turned out to be a great choice for Frank and Western Michigan, but not as good for UNO. Frank scored several times against the team that didn’t recruit him. Western Michigan bounced UNO from NCHC playoffs and fell just short of making it to the Frozen Four.

READ ALSO: Catching Up With Bears' Captain Matt Moulson

Meanwhile, Napravnik opted to attend Minnesota State because "they had two other Germans on their team at the time and I knew them, I played with them back home in Germany and before I even came to the USHL," Napravnik recalled. "They reached out right away; their coaches, they kind of wanted me right away just because they were telling them there's a German kid (and) he's really good, so they took a chance right away with me. I visited and I liked it right away."

Things turned out well for Napravnik and Minnesota State as well as the Mavericks made it to the Frozen Four where they beat Minnesota, the team that beat Western Michigan. However, Napravnik’s season ended without a championship as they too suffered a loss in their final game of the 2022 season in the national championship game against Denver earlier this month.

While their paths came close to crossing several times this year, they finally did when both signed with the Bears because of the interest the organization had shown in them and the high potential for developing their games.

"I've heard a lot of good things about how well the fans treat the players, how well the coach and the staff treat the players and just how well [run] the organization is overall," Frank said in his first interview with the team leading into Friday's game at Wilkes-Barre.

Napravnik added, "They seemed really interested (in me) after the college season. They reached out right away. They showed a lot of interest and wanted me - to give an opportunity right away so that's the biggest part."

And they're learning already, noting differences in the game at this level.

"I guess just guys being stronger and less time with the puck, like making decisions. That's like the biggest part - they're all super strong," Napravnik reflected. "It's hard to get the puck from them, and [harder] to make plays."

Practices offer learning experiences as well.

"[I] just try to be like a sponge and soak everything up. I've been learning a lot in my first week here and I'm just going to keep trying to keep doing that. Just learning everything every day has been really helpful, especially with the caliber of the players. It's helping me get better every day to improve," Frank told InsideAHLHockey.com.

READ ALSO: History Is Made! Hershey Becomes First AHL Franchise To 3,000 Wins

Scott Allen and the coaching staff were so impressed with what they've seen, they've added both players to the second power play unit too.

"A lot of that goes into the research and background, and with the trust we have in our scouting department. They do a tremendous job finding players, and we want to put guys in position to succeed," Allen said. "And so right from the outset, you know, we put those guys in position to succeed. And, you know, Frank got the power play goal [Friday] night at Wilkes, so coming in, obviously, we haven't seen a lot of them, but you got to put your trust in scouts and they're both very skilled guys and both add a couple of dimensions to the game."

Speaking of that power play goal, his first professional goal, Frank admitted that he was not sure he even scored until his teammates came rushing toward him.

"Their penalty killing forwards (were) on the other side of the ice and then Bobby [Nardella] just gave me one on a silver platter. I just shot it as hard as I could," Frank recalled after last Friday's overtime loss in Wilkes-Barre. "You know, I honestly thought I missed that until I heard everybody kind of celebrating. I felt good, you know, I'm kind of a new guy here and I'm just gonna try to do whatever I can to help the team win."

It's not all work and no play in their new surroundings. Both stated in a dual interview that they're eager to explore the area a bit, and going down 'a slide or two' at the nearby water park.

But the next thing on the list, at least for Frank?

"I don't have a car yet. I'm getting one next week," Frank told InsideAHLHockey.com. There was also a promise of HersheyPark tickets, which will probably be high on the list as well.

And they are very comfortable around each other, kind of reminiscent of Jakub Vrana and Vitek Vanecek - or even more recently Alex Alexeyev and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby. Hopefully Washington sees the value in this duo and they are together for some time.

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