PRAGUE -- Ondrej Palat still finds it hard to believe he went from doubting he would ever be chosen in the NHL Draft to earning a living playing the game he loves and even winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships along the way.
The New Jersey Devils forward added another first to his to-do list on Thursday afternoon when given an opportunity to experience the exhibit of "ice hockey and skating in art" at the National Gallery Prague while accompanied by writers, photographers and videographers.
Palat will also be playing in his first NHL game in his home country.
The Devils are here for the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal and will open the 2024-25 NHL regular season against the Buffalo Sabres at O2 Arena 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).
"It's the first time I was here and it's a pretty cool gallery of hockey art ... and it goes way back to the beginning," Palat said. "I think the pictures that really stood out to me were those of the Czech players celebrating their gold medal (at the 1998 Nagano Olympics). Those kind of pictures remind me of my childhood and why I started to play hockey. I can remember those pictures like it was yesterday, watching it when I was six years old."