COLLINGWOOD

The Maple Leafs haven’t needed to provide a translator for their first Latvian draft pick.

All Martins Dzierkals needed at prospects camp this week was a TV remote, though his English might have a trace of Kit Harington or Bryan Cranston in the delivery.

“In Latvia, I watch American TV all the time,” said Dzierkals (rhymes with ‘circus’). “The best are Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Walking Dead. I’m trying to learn English, so it helps I watch a lot of TV shows and movies.”

What ever way he’s acclimatized to North America, he carries himself with confidence among the 57 draft picks, free agents and camp invitees. On the ice, the left winger is going to get a comprehensive tutoring in what to expect in pro hockey once he joins the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL for 2015-16.

That’s the path the Leafs were hoping he’d take when they chose him 68th overall last month. Their scouts first targeted Dzierkals at the world under-18 championships when he had 12 points in seven games. He picked up another eight during 10 games of Division 1A world junior hockey finals in Italy in December to go with 28 in 32 during league play with Riga.

“Statistically, Latvia is not a traditional country to be taking guys from,” said Toronto’s assistant GM Kyle Dubas. “But they’re developing more and more players. His production in the junior league was off the charts. We knew there were a lot of other teams circling him at the draft and we had to pick him there. We’d had some extra picks by moving down (through a trade).

“He was a guy that (scouts) Thommie Bergman and Garth Malarchuk really liked. We all went and watched him in the relegation games and he was really good. We got some good video on him. He’s a fast, skilled player. His family (members are) very big so he looks like a guy who will grow a little bit (from his current 5-foot-11, 170 pounds) and get a lot stronger.”

While Leaf execs Dubas, Mark Hunter and the scouts were filing his name with NHL Central Registry during the draft in Florida, Dzierkals was in Latvia following on his computer.

“When I saw I got picked, I couldn’t speak,” Dzierkals recalled. “About a minute after they drafted me, I got so many congratulations calls. More than I ever got on my birthday. Friends, coaches, everybody who knows me. Some of them called before the Leafs had called me.”

But the plight of his NHL team in recent years is well-known, even in Eastern Europe.

“I heard they were not such a good team,” Dzierkals said. “I didn’t know much about them, but now I see all these videos (the club has an orientation for the prospects that highlights team history and the sold-out ACC game-night experience). There are so much fans and I see everyone loves hockey in Toronto. I’m really excited.”

When Dzierkals got to Collingwood, a small army of assistant coaches and specialists bombarded him with tips on becoming a more well- rounded player. Many second- and third-timers here already had an understanding about nutrition, conditioning and media awareness, but it was all news to Dzierkals. He also joined in team activities such as paintball and hiking.

“This is the best camp I’ve ever been to. I’m learning so much, about passing, shooting and all these conferences at night. It’s so interesting.”

The most beneficial to him so far is the power skating taught by former world figure-skating pairs champion Barb Underhill. A couple of her suggestions and Dzierkals can already see a difference in his stride.

“I didn’t know a lot of this stuff,” he said.

The No. 68 pick has been something of a good luck charm of late for Toronto, which selected Russian-born, WHL-trained Rinat Valiev there last year, a defenceman many think will be NHL ready in a couple of years. In 2009, they took big Jamie Devane at 68th and he’s played two NHL games to date. It’s far too early to tell with Dzierkals, but at least they can keep a closer eye on him in Quebec.

“For Scott Pellerin (Toronto’s director of player development), who is from Boston, it will be easy to get up to the Montreal area to see him,” Dubas said. “It’ll be a great experience for him and interesting for us to see how he comes through this summer. He has a lot of work to do in terms of strength, but all these guys do.”

UNITED NATIONS

A list of various Leaf players by their European birthplace:

Czech Republic - D Tomas Kaberle, D Roman Polak

England - RW Steve Thomas

Estonia - C/W Leo Komarov

Finland - D Aki Berg, G Vesa Toskala

Germany - D Korbinian Holzer

Khazakstan - C Nik Antropov

Latvia - LW Martins Dziekals*

Northern Ireland - RW Owen Nolan

Norway - F Sondre Olden*

Poland - RW Mariusz Czerkawski

Russia - RW Alex Mogilny, D Dmitri Yushkevich

Sweden - D Borje Salming, C Mats Sundin

Switzerland - G Martin Gerber

Slovakia - C Peter Ihnacak

Scotland - RW Chuck Blair

Ukraine - RW Alexei Ponikarovski, D Alexander Godynyuk

Wales - F Cy Thomas

* - Draft pick