Sabres take in sights of Prague as part of Global Series

PRAGUE -- Lukas Rousek was a Prague tour guide for Buffalo Sabres teammates Ryan McLeod, Peyton Krebs and even fellow Czech forward Jiri Kulich on Monday.

"I've spent all my life here and I know all the things about Prague," Rousek said.

The Sabres are here for the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal. They will open the 2024-25 NHL regular season against the New Jersey Devils on Friday (1 p.m. ET NHLN, SN, MSGSN, MSG-B) followed by a game Saturday (10 a.m. ET; NHLN, SN, MSGSN, MSG-B) at O2 Arena.

They had some time to walk around Monday, take in some of the city, its history, its culture.

Rousek, one of Buffalo's extra forwards on this trip, has lived in Prague since he was a baby. Guided by a few tips from mom, he knew where to go after practice Monday to show some teammates a little bit of his city and one of his favorite places in it.

The four Sabres left the team hotel shortly after getting back from practice for a walk and talk over the famous Charles Bridge and through Old Town before finally stopping at the Illusion Art Museum for a guided tour.

The Illusion Art Museum is Prague's first museum for trick and art illusion. It features interactive exhibits, some showcasing Prague's history.

"I talked to my mom about where we could go Monday and this was it," Rousek said. "It's very fun. I was here a few years ago. It's not very popular because not a lot of people know about it, but when you come you tell other people and when they come they all have fun. It's pretty cool for these guys to just come here and look and do something different. It was a good idea."

The players had a blast going through the museum with their tour guide, checking out every exhibit, taking pictures, laughing and chatting and learning along the way.

Kulich was handed a disposable camera and told to take some pictures. It was his first time using one. The 20-year-old didn't know what to do with it. He had to be taught how to wind it back before taking another picture.

Naturally, he took some selfies.

"Honestly, I need one," Kulich said. "I had fun with it. The worst thing is you can't see the pictures, but probably they're going to be good."

The four forwards were enamored with the exhibits, like the painting that can only be seen through a reflection, the mural on the floor that allowed you to pretend like you were falling through the floor, and the painting on the wall that allowed you to pretend like you were pushing a centuries old Czech government official out the window.

They did graffiti art through their phone camera onto a canvas in a dark room. The graffiti disappears in the light.

They stood on the left of an exhibit and could read the word 'Nite' carved out in wooden letters. The tour guide said they didn't do the letter g because it was too hard to carve. They then moved to the right and when staring at the wooden letters from the right angle, nite turned into day.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a really cool experience," McLeod said.

On the walk over, the players talked about the history of Prague and Czech food.

Krebs stopped at each nook of the Charles Bridge to see if he could find out when it was built. He eventually looked it up on his phone. Construction began in 1357 on Prague's oldest and most famous bridge.

People stopped and stared because of the camera crew following the four players, none of whom were wearing anything that suggested they played for the Sabres. But when the players stopped to take pictures in the middle of the bridge, passerbys just started snapping pics of them too, especially when they learned who they were and what they were here for.

McLeod wanted to know if anyone swam in the Vltava River below the bridge.

"I mean, you can probably find some crazy guys," Kulich said.

This was sort of new to Kulich too. He is in Prague every summer for training, but he said he never comes down to Old Town to walk around and take in the history. In fact, he said this was the first time he can remember doing it.

"It's great to show the other guys what Prague is like, but 'Rousy' knows everything about Prague so he gave them his experience and I think the guys just loved it," Kulich said. "I'm not the guy who is just walking down here for the culture, but I should because it's really good."

Rousek pointed out some of the landmark places in Old Town, like the Golden Tiger pub, known because of the golden tiger statue outside of it. Rousek said the pub is famous for its beer.

Instead of explaining Czech food to McLeod and Krebs, Rousek showed them a picture of goulash that was on the window of a restaurant. Kulich pointed at a dessert that looked like ice cream and said they had to try it before they left. He didn't even say the name of it.

"It's hard to translate it sometimes so it's better to show them the pictures," Rousek said, "but the best thing is when you taste it."

When it was over, the four left the museum and continued walking through Old Town, looking for a place to get some coffee and chat some more.

"You come to these countries, you've got to learn a bit of the history," McLeod said. "It was cool to get that and even better to get that from a teammate."