It had been almost a month since recently-signed Providence Bruin Eduards Tralmaks skated in a hockey game. He didn’t seem to skip a beat.
Monday afternoon’s affair between the Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers marked the beginning of Tralmaks‘ professional hockey career. The University of Maine product wasted no time getting his name on the score sheet in his first game since signing with the P-Bruins in mid-March, jamming in a goal in the 2nd period to break a scoreless tie between the two teams in a 2-1 Providence win.
First game first goal for Eduards Tralmaks #AHLBruins pic.twitter.com/7tVwOG0mr0
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 5, 2021
Providence coach Jay Leach praised Tralmaks in his post-game press conference, calling Tralmaks’ debut performance “impressive.”
"“I thought [Tralmaks] was good, right from the get-go. He was on pucks, skating in straight lines, he was under people. Made a couple plays off the wall, good defensively. And then obviously, he could’ve had two [goals], around the net, looking to shoot pucks, he was impressive.”"
The Riga, Latvia native played in 12 games this season for the Maine Black Bears, where he led the team with six goals, and added four assists as well. Over the span of four years in Orono, Tralmaks accumulated 82 points in 119 games.
The power forward is best friends with goalie Jeremy Swayman, who had a big influence on Tralmaks decision to sign with Boston. Unfortunately for the two, Swayman wasn’t on the ice to see his teammate’s first career goal in the AHL. Swayman is currently in Boston skating at the NHL level, with both Tuukka Rask out still injured and Jaroslav Halak on the COVID list after testing positive for COVID.
It will be a while before Tralmaks makes his way into play for a possible call up to the NHL level. But he’s a player that’s had interest from NHL teams dating back to 2016 – he attended the development camps for the Vancouver Canucks in 2016, the Ottawa Senators in 2018, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019. And considering his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and style of play, he has the mold of a physical, drive-to-the-net player that the Bruins like.
Can’t forget his hands as well, as he was featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays his freshman year with a sweet dangle-and-dive goal against Quinnipiac University.
🎥😲 Eduards Tralmaks.
— Maine Men’s Ice Hockey (@MaineIceHockey) December 9, 2017
What.
A.
Goal. #BlackBearNation #HockeyEast #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/b27GfxaV89
Keep an eye out for Tralmaks to be a potential top prospect for Boston in the near future.