Just look at him. He is 39 and dominates in this WC. Imagine how good he was in his prime. If a guy like Marcus Johansson is an Nhler how did Cervenka not turn into one?
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How did Cervenka never become a Nhler?
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SoundAndFury
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Easy answer - no physical tools. Many players are in the same boat, Omark is the poster boy for this too. They are neither fast, nor strong, nor particularly elusive skaters. Considering they had to be offered contracts competitive with top offers from Europe, it just wasn't particularly worth it for either side.
He played 39 games with Calgary, scored 17 points (9+8), which wasn't a bad start at all. Then he, quite surprisingly, terminated the contract and returned to Europe. My guess: He has "always" been the type of player who needed and required to be a leader, the man the team was relying on. In this role he can still play his best hockey. There have always been players of this kind and it is completely fine. But obviously you can't come to the NHL and immediately have this role. He was feeling unfomfortable having to compete for his spot in the line-up etc. So he decided to return to Europe. Which is every player's right and if he was feeling Europe would be a better place for him as a player, it is completely OK.
SoundAndFury
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Or it's simply about dollars and cents. His contract was 925k + bonuses and while 9+8 isn't bad, it probably didn't hit most, if any, of that bonus money. While in Russia, at the time, he easily made 1,5-2 mil tax free dollars. Losing 1 million dollars per year for pie in the sky NHL dream isn't for everyone.
Only the player himself knows. Of course they used to be offerring insane money to players in Russia back then. I don't know Červenka personally so I really don't dare to guess what his real motivations had been. It could as well be about him being not exactly young and not able/willing to adapt to the slighly different lifestyle. Also, NHL is specific in the fact that they are playing insane 82 games per regular season. The games are following in a really quick order. Some players are not the right types for that because they need slightly more time to rest between games. We can but speculate.
The Gr8 Dane
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McDave is a loser lol
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Cervenka missed the start of that season with the Flames with a blood clot and never really found his footing after that
Fil
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He played 38 games and 17 pts
Looking at tht he was definitely good enough.
But then I searched his khl salary for the year after tht... 3.9 MILLION
KHL money is TAX FREE
So it was probably money not because he not good enough
Looking at tht he was definitely good enough.
But then I searched his khl salary for the year after tht... 3.9 MILLION
KHL money is TAX FREE
So it was probably money not because he not good enough
Fil
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This is my source:
www.hockeyzoneplus.com
He probably made bonuses too
HockeyZonePlus - NHL / Hockey Salary / net worth / earnings database
The HockeyZonePlus salary history / net worth / earnings database provides information -- including salaries, rankings, career earnings, and values in today's dollars -- for players, coaches and general managers.
www.hockeyzoneplus.com
He probably made bonuses too
Fil
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I read something tht it was?
I mean i believe you because u are from Russia. But aren't taxes really low in russia?
SoundAndFury
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Even if they aren't literally tax-free, the amount of taxation is incredibly minor, especially if you compare it to Calgary.
Fil
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Yozhik v tumane
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It’s funny, I was thinking the exact same thing last night.
I don’t know if they’re supposed to be tax free, but I’ve heard players tell crazy stories about playing for mob bosses and receiving their salary in a plastic bag full of cash.
Fil
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I mean the bonuses make up for the minimal tax. So we can speculate he made that whole 3.9 million
SoundAndFury
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That only really applies to a select few village teams nobody cares about, not really applicable to the elite teams Cervenka played for.
Fil
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But I also heard reports that lots of khl teams pay a lot under the table. Idk if that's true but it's definitely possible
Golden_Jet
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Czechboy
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My guess is money. Top line and more money in KHL. Shame, he's obviously really good. Agree with physical tools.. he is all about hockey IQ. Not speed or size.
Crazy thing. He was jagrs preferred linemate and now pastas preferred linemate. He has good taste
Crazy thing. He was jagrs preferred linemate and now pastas preferred linemate. He has good taste
He came to the NHL at the worst possible time. First there was lockout in 2012. Červenka played 9 games in Extraleague, got injured. Then played briefly for 5 games in short-lived Prague based KHL team Lev Praha before suffering from another injury.
In December-January lockout was over and instead of fighting for a good lineup spot, Červenka went through blood clot issue. I don't know how well he would have done in the NHL but he would do a lot better in just about any other season before or after 12-13.
In December-January lockout was over and instead of fighting for a good lineup spot, Červenka went through blood clot issue. I don't know how well he would have done in the NHL but he would do a lot better in just about any other season before or after 12-13.
ItWasJustified
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He was undrafted. There's so much politics in the NHL. There's tons of North American scrubs who gets more opportunities than undrafted Europeans.
For real. Cervenka's foray to the NHL could not have had any worse timing. In addition to the blood clot that caused him to miss most of training camp and the first month of an already shortened lock-out season, there are few other nuances to the situation:
- There were significant family and cultural adjustment issues. He gave an interview after his time in Calgary, where he mentioned that his wife had a really hard time adjusting to the cultural differences of North America while simultaneously raising their newborn without family support
- Hartley was continuously shifting him between wing and center, which likely made it harder to adjust to North America than if was allowed to stay at his natural position as a center
- The Flames had a mediocre team with a weak prospect pool and were just at the start of a rebuild (i.e. this was prior to Monahan being drafted and Gaudreau's NHL debut), whereas Cervenka's track record indicates that he likes to play on competitive teams
It's really unfortunate that Cervenka didn't stick around for another season. He may be "slow" and not very physical, but everything else about him could have easily resulted in a solid NHL career that mirrored Jiri Hudler's.
swissdude
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depending on which team you get traded to you probably prefer playing half the number of games in switzerland for little less, it's certainly not a downgrade in terms of quality of life
On the big ice, its a lot easier to contribute without being a great skater because there is so much time and space. But in the NHL, It's incredibly hard to be an offensive player without being a very very good skater, especially for undersized guys. Marcus Johansson was an excellent skater in comparison to Cervenka, which is why he was a more effective NHLer.
Cervenka probably had offers to be a full time NHLer at multiple points of his career, but he'd likely have to slot in as a middle 6 scoring winger / PP specialist who struggles at 5v5. He was the type of guy who probably would have put up decent numbers on basement teams, but he's not the type of player contending teams would be looking to acquire.
He's like a Frank Vatrano or Daniel Sprong, or a poor man's Mikael Granlund.
He probably preferred to be a star overseas than a journeyman in the NHL. It's a much less stressful life. He still earned millions of dollars in his career, so its not like he was hard up for cash.
WarriorofTime
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1) Not drafted which means he was never on the radar/within a system where a team would be specifically scouting him and trying to get him to come over as a young player. Had he been, good chance he would come to AHL in his early 20s.
2) Later breakout - around 24 it started to come together in Europe. So even in a second wave post-not being a draft pick, teams are less likely to have a lot of interest in a player who is already a bit old for a "prospect".
3) Did of course have a small sample in NHL, combo of bad luck with lockout shortened year and injury.
4) was playing in the KHL at a time when the salaries were very good and competitive with low-tier NHL fringe contract. So after the short Calgary stint, likely not as interested in hanging around in the dredges of the NHL trying to fight his way onto a depth spot, riding waiver wires, etc. when he could make good/better money playing in KHL and later as an import player in the NLA.
He's a very good example of the fact that NHL teams aren't run via open tryout year to year and a player can both be not so obvious "good enough to walk into an NHL locker room and be instant top-9 player" and also "not literally every player in the NHL is better than literally every player in Europe". I would reckon if he was North American kid, a third or fourth round pick, hung around AHL rosters, got put up on waivers a few times, etc. there's a decent shot he'd be somewhere between a 200-400 game NHL player. I mean Jarred Tinordi hung around long enough to play 200+ NHL games.
2) Later breakout - around 24 it started to come together in Europe. So even in a second wave post-not being a draft pick, teams are less likely to have a lot of interest in a player who is already a bit old for a "prospect".
3) Did of course have a small sample in NHL, combo of bad luck with lockout shortened year and injury.
4) was playing in the KHL at a time when the salaries were very good and competitive with low-tier NHL fringe contract. So after the short Calgary stint, likely not as interested in hanging around in the dredges of the NHL trying to fight his way onto a depth spot, riding waiver wires, etc. when he could make good/better money playing in KHL and later as an import player in the NLA.
He's a very good example of the fact that NHL teams aren't run via open tryout year to year and a player can both be not so obvious "good enough to walk into an NHL locker room and be instant top-9 player" and also "not literally every player in the NHL is better than literally every player in Europe". I would reckon if he was North American kid, a third or fourth round pick, hung around AHL rosters, got put up on waivers a few times, etc. there's a decent shot he'd be somewhere between a 200-400 game NHL player. I mean Jarred Tinordi hung around long enough to play 200+ NHL games.
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