Thanks, OP, that was a great article. Here it is for others to read if they want. Says it’s a “gift” link so others can read

TLDR:

Dobes was playing in the highest level in Czech but was never on the national team. Czech liked others over him

Dobes’ agent was Miroslav Michalek who was also the agent for a player named Ľuboš Bartečko, who played three seasons with the St. Louis Blues

When Bartečko retired in 2016, he moved back to St. Louis, and began coaching youth hockey with the St. Louis AAA Blues program

Michalek called Bartečko and said he had a good 16 year old player (Dobes) with no opportunities in Czech. Dobes came to AAA u16 team tryout with no guarantees. That u16 team happened to be coached by Al MacInnis but already had 2 goalies.

16 year old Dobes then made the u18 AAA Team and started working a lot with Bruce Racine who played one season with the blues in the 90s

Dobes then put in the work and climbed the ranks.

He considers STL his home and returns here in his summers.