When hockey dream faded, an MBA co-op offered a career

A hockey dream didn’t come true. But a career in insurance hit the back of the net.

When 16-year-old Tomas Stryncl relocated to Canada from the Czech Republic, his objective was to join the pantheon of hockey greats.

“I played three years of [Ontario Hockey League] with the Brampton Battalion. I didn’t get drafted and go to the NHL and retire at 35 in Florida…but I continued to play hockey at the University of Prince Edward Island for four years, and now I play the good old B league on Wednesday nights,” the senior vice president, office leader – Halifax and national marine strategy and execution leader at Aon Canada tells Canadian Underwriter. “Lots of fun.”

While earning an MBA at Dalhousie University, Stryncl thought back to a specialized technical education on logistics, supply chains and economics. Part of his MBA program included an eight-month paid co-op placement in Aon’s Halifax office, which has a marine insurance team. “The background in logistics and supply chain allowed me to differentiate myself as part of the interview process,” he says. “And next thing you know, [almost] 15 years later, I’m still here and…lead the national marine team and our local Halifax office.”

He adds a key attraction to the insurance industry is the opportunity to solve complex client problems, along with the daily diversity of challenges and opportunities. “On Monday, you’re working on marine clients, solving [how] a vessel [will be] scrapped and towed to Turkey. On Tuesday, you’re working on a hockey rink being built in Halifax, while a hurricane is coming through. On Wednesday, we’re [visiting] a fish plant in south shore Nova Scotia that is 100 years old,” he says.

Stryncl is one of six recipients of the Insurance Institute of Canada’s 2025 National Leadership Awards in the ‘Emerging Leaders’ category.

Related: Finding a home in Canada’s P&C insurance industry

One standout project came early in Stryncl’s career and introduced him to the complexities of marine coverage. The client was laying subsea cables in the Bay of Fundy, which has some of the world’s harshest tidal currents.

“The project [required a] significant amount of capacity and coverage. And we worked on it for three to four months. We…negotiated with the marine and specialty marketplaces, and we found coverage on behalf of the client,” he says. “And then I was on the beach when the cable was coming out of the ocean and being buried. Seeing the project…from when it was written on paper, then being negotiated, contracts being finalized, to ultimately seeing [it] happen in person was very rewarding.”

Operationally, Stryncl says he’s intrigued by new tools that allow his team to help clients make the right decisions. “In my marine specialty role, we’re seeing cargo cloud monitoring for perishable goods. When clients are shipping full containers of lobster from Nova Scotia to China, they have the ability to monitor and get information on the increasingly expensive shipments worldwide,” he says.

“We have cargo insurance portals that streamline how exporters and freight forwarders go about arranging insurance and issuing certificates of insurance.”

Another trend he’s watching is a shift toward younger decision makers and risk managers within his client base. “We’re no longer dealing with CFOs that have been with the company for 30-plus years. We are dealing with decision makers that are in their 30s and 40s. The way they transact business and the way they expect us to be proactive and deliver value to their doorstep is different than it was 10 years ago,” he tells CU.

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“We are [working on] ease of access of transacting business, proactive service delivery and how [to] differentiate our clients in the marketplace via the tools we have at our disposal. The expectation across the board in this industry is no longer eight to four. This is 24/7. Clients are looking for speed of service.”

Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.