Dallas Stars: Radek Faksa Having An Offseason To Remember

The Dallas Stars had a longer offseason than they would have liked to this year, giving them extra time to work with off the ice. Radek Faksa has taken complete advantage of his free time so far.

One of the best times of the year when growing up is summer vacation. School is out, you have 2-3 months to relax away from academics, and it’s the perfect time to hang out with friends and family.

Once you graduate and grow out of school, that summer break likely disappears as you take on a year-round work schedule. It might not be the most entertaining gig, but it’s a necessity.

But there are a few jobs that come with summer vacation, such as a school teacher or even a professional hockey player. And when you have a summer vacation, it is imperative that you make the most of it. That’s exactly what Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa has done with the first two months of his offseason.

Faksa had a great 2016-17 season and really stepped out into the spotlight in his second season as a Dallas Star. In 80 games, Faksa posted 12 goals and 33 points. He played at even strength, on the power play, and on the penalty kill and provided a multidimensional presence for the Stars both on offense and defense. That’s rather exciting for Dallas considering he just completed his first full season in the NHL.

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The 23-year-old has done all sorts of things this offseason, and thanks to the power of Instagram and Twitter, we’ve been able to keep up with him.

It all started on May 1 when Faksa put up a story on Instagram of him feeding a piece of lettuce to his pet turtle. It definitely came out of the blue, but was absolutely hilarious to watch nonetheless. Sadly, Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours, but we were still able to snag a screenshot.

Isn’t that just great? He’s making sure the turtle has a balanced and nutritious diet all while giving his followers an opportunity to laugh on a Monday morning.

But then he began his great expedition. On May 2nd, he left from Prague on a train to Tokyo. Following the ride to Tokyo, he also made stops in Kyoto, Bangkok, and Phuket. In Tokyo, he ran into quite the sight and just happened to take a video of, well, just look at the tweet below for more.

Is this a regular occurrence in Tokyo, or did Faksa stumble upon a golden photo opportunity with a rare case such as this? Either way, this is another story that caught us off guard yet was surprisingly entertaining.

And then there came the miniature taxi (called an auto rickshaw, as reported by one of our loyal Twitter followers. But Faksa was not the passenger in this case. Somehow, he got in the driver seat and someone film him driving with a passenger in the cart behind him.

Take a look at it and experience it in all of its glory.

The best part is that all of these stories were posted within eight days of each other. In other words, the beginning of May was quite an enjoyable time for all of Radek Faksa’s followers on Instagram. These don’t seem like natural occurrences for the everyday person to experience, but for some reason it seems like they are entirely natural for an easygoing guy like Faksa.

He finished his trip with a visit to what looked like a beach resort and a nature hike in Phuket (which included him taking a selfie with an elephant). He also attended a Borussia Dortmund soccer game.

On exit interview day this past year, Faksa told me that his offseason plans included “some vacation and relaxing and then I’ll start training to get better for next year.”

He’s followed through on both promises. Faksa has already started posting Instagram stories of him training and preparing for the 2017-18 season, and he put up a video on Twitter yesterday of him shooting. As always, his game is looking in top form.

Faksa had a terrific sophomore year with the Dallas Stars and looks as though he will have a rather large role going into next season with the team. It’s only fair that he has a little bit of free time to enjoy himself.

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After all, he is just a 23-year-old having some fun.