These days, the Ice Hockey World Championship is in full swing, which attracts minimal attention due to the exclusion of the Russian national team from international competitions in our country. But if you pay attention to the world championship in Finland, you can find out that the top scorer at the moment is Roman Chervenka, familiar to fans of Avangard and SKA. Sport24 tells the story of one of the most brilliant strikers in Czech hockey history.
Entered the history of the “avant-garde”
Cervenka came to the KHL as the regular season top scorer and the playoffs of the Czech championship. Of course, this did not guarantee him a successful career in the Avant-garde – in the history of the league there were many examples when hockey players who smashed European championships failed miserably in the main league of the continent. However, Roman’s game exceeded even the wildest expectations – in the first season he became the best sniper in the KHL and scored 31 goals.
Cervenka tore the league in the same trio as her compatriot and partner in the Czech national team Jaromir Jagr, in which the third in this combination was Alexei Kalyuzhny. In the second season in the Hawks uniform, a native of Prague became the absolute best player of the Omsk club – Roman took the title of best scorer, sniper and assistant of the Avangard. The league also decided not to overlook the purebred sniper’s achievements and included him in the emblematic team of the season.
The striker of the Czech national team, not only thanks to the constant leadership at the statistical peaks, but also in the match against Dynamo Riga, made himself well in club history, scoring the ten thousandth goal in the history of Cervenka Avangard. Roman can undoubtedly be called one of the most powerful legionnaires in the history of the Omsk team.
failed trip NHL
Everything went well for Chervenka in the KHL: the Czech striker dominated at this level and felt quite comfortable. But in almost every interview, Roman admitted that he is the NHL’s number one goal. After two solid seasons in Omsk, the sniper decided to attack the main hockey peak and signed a contract with Calgary. The Flames’ top leadership throughout the negotiations spoke highly of him: the club’s general manager, Jay Fister, noted and expressed the Czech striker’s golden hands, the site’s excellent vision, his goal-scoring ability. Confidence that Chervenka can secure a spot in the top 6″ Ogonkov.
Fister knew very well what he was talking about – his assistant, John Weisbrod, personally flew to Omsk for the KHL playoff matches, ensuring that Roman was perfect for their organization. In addition, many scouts at the time agreed that Cervenka was one of the strongest hockey players outside of the NHL. However, the former Avangard striker’s play had some flaws. As prominent journalist Corey Pronman points out, the Calgary rookie has a pretty average skating, but that shouldn’t stop him from securing a place on a team with serious performance issues.
It is interesting that Cervenka did not end up in Calgary, but in Edmonton: Roman’s partner in the Czech national team Ales Khemsky, playing for the Oilers, actively invited him to join him. But the best sniper in the KHL made a choice in favor of Ogonki – they showed the greatest interest in their service.
Things were not so easy with the best league in the world if Cervenka had no trouble adjusting to the KHL. Roman’s effectiveness in small venues dropped dramatically, and the biting wrist he’d seen as a nightmare for all Avant-garde rivals disappeared somewhere without a trace. In 39 games in the shortened season, the Flyers rookie scored 18 points and -13 useful points and failed to take the lead. Declining playing time, along with general dissatisfaction with his game, was reason enough for the Czech striker’s return to the KHL – Cervenka signed a contract with SKA and forgot about the NHL.
moving to switzerland
Petersburg, the once best KHL sniper did not manage to become a star. Unlike Avant-garde, where Roman plays the first violin role, St. Petersburg club had completely different hockey players in leading positions. Therefore, after winning the Gagarin Cup, Chervenka decided to move to one of the strongest European championships and signed a contract with Swiss Friborg-Gotteron.
In the land of delicious cheeses, the talented Czech once again regained the title of a full-fledged star and smashed the Swiss championship every year. And last season, the Rapperswil forward scored 63 points in 39 games and was the regular season top scorer. Why not a reason to ignite at the World Cup as well?
scoring the World Cup
Despite the 36-year-old Czech’s successes in Switzerland, the impression was that success should no longer be expected of him at the international level. But judging by Cervenka’s game at the tournament in Finland, it can be argued that over the years of playing with Jagr she managed to steal a few drops of youth elixir from him – during the world championship Roman is among the top scorers and the leading player of the Czech national team.
In the first two games, Chervenka was an assistant and made 6 assists, after which he suddenly tried out the status of a sniper and always distinguished himself in three meetings in a row. “Dry” Roman came out only from the matches against the USA and Finland, but almost single-handedly won the victory of the Czech national team in the quarterfinals with the Germans: the century-old striker scored 3 (1 + 2) points and took part in 3 of the 4 goals of his team.
After the arrival of Pastrnak, who was eliminated from the NHL playoffs with Boston, Kari Jalonen found herself in the hands of a deadly connection: Cervenka – Krejci – Pastrnak. The Rapperswil forward complements his former Boston teammates perfectly and shows himself extensively as both a quarterback and a scorer. If the Czech national team makes it to the final, the former Avangard and SKA striker has every chance to win the MVP of the tournament.
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