- May 9, 2014
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RIP Cechmanek Aged 52
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Still a world champion and an Olympic champion (backing up Hašek in Nagano). That counts way more than a Vezina over here – in fact, it counts more than the Stanley Cup.
As opposed to rampant speculation online, it should not be suicide, but sudden unspecified illness. He also worked as a hockey coach in recent years, including for his three kids. Following his hockey career, he launched several failed business ventures, and was sued in court for unpaid debts for some of them.
Zemřel Roman Čechmánek (†52), šampion z Nagana a mistr světa
Tragická hokejová zpráva. Ve věku 52 let umřel Roman Čechmánek, bývalý vynikající brankář. Olympijský vítěz z Nagana 1998 a trojnásobný mistr světa. Okolnosti jeho náhlého úmrtí zatím nejsou známé. Ví se, že měl rodák ze Zlína v posledních letech vážné finanční problémy, kvůli kterým stanul i...
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KingsHockey24
Registered User
- Aug 1, 2013
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I started watching hockey in 2006 so I never got a chance to see him play.
Why was his career so short? His numbers are crazy good.
Why was his career so short? His numbers are crazy good.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
- 23,187
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He was drafted when he was 29, so four years would put him at 33. Kind of a Tim Thomas-like career.
DryIslandBartender
KCCO
- Jun 30, 2006
- 5,632
- 2,520
RIP, entertaining goalie. You never knew what you were gonna get.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
FrozenKing18
Registered User
Awful news. Still young. I didn't get to see him play, but back when I became a fan and researched the Kings, I always thought he had the sickest gear set
tigermask48
Maniacal Laugh
He was a true throwback as while goalies around the NHL were focusing on positioning and fundamentals, here was Cechmanek with his aggressive style, pad stacks, and pokechecks. Was always great watching him.
If i remember, he would either stand on his head and win games almost single handed, or let in 5+. Consistency was his issue.
fivehole32
Kicking rebounds to the slot
- Jan 11, 2015
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Fun factoid, Cechmanek put a plastic insert into his catching glove to make is like a lacrosse head. He would twist his hand to catch the puck. I am a goalie and I can attest goalies are strange. Ha.
Way too young. Feel awful for his family. RIP
Way too young. Feel awful for his family. RIP
Partly due to bad timing. He didn't speak much English so it seemed like he was a bit hesitant to come to North America. Sometimes it can be more difficult coming over in your late 20's / early 30's especially if you have a wife who might be giving up a career of her own.
After Cechmanek's first season, he was able to convince Jiri Dopita to give the NHL a shot; Dopita was perennially one of those "best players not in the NHL."
Despite success on the ice, it seemed like Cechmanek never got particularly comfortable. He played back home during the lockout.
Edit: Looks like his second kid was born right after the 2003-04 season ended. If they went back home during the lockout, I could understand if it was a family decision to stay put.
And then after the lockout, it may have just come down to nobody looking for a starting goalie and/or being able to afford one. Cechmanek was 34 which probably didn't help.
Ballpark goalie duos going into the 2005-06 season:
Pretty much everybody had a starting goalie in place.
UFAs: Khabibulin (CHI), Osgood (DET), Burke (TBL), CuJo (PHX), Dunham (ATL)
trades/signings before the lockout: Hasek (OTT), Garon (LAK), Lalime (STL), Gerber (CAR)
In particular, Dunham signed with Atlanta right before camp started for cheap (750K) as he had been making 3.3 mil before the lockout.
As I remember most teams were up to the cap coming out of the lockout. Colorado could have used a name brand goalie but they didn't have the cap space to keep Adam Foote. So it might have come down to Cechmanek not getting a high enough offer to uproot his family again. I think Jason Allison priced himself out in the summer of 2006 when he refused to take a discount.
Edmonton needed a goalie and would eventually trade for Dwayne Roloson at the 2006 Deadline. Jiri Dopita briefly played in Edmonton in 2002 and I have vague memories that he and his wife hated it there. I can only imagine they relayed the experience to Cechmanek if Edmonton had been a suitor.
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KingsHockey24
Registered User
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Judging by his stats he was having a lot more of those standing on his head games than the 5+ GA ones.
- May 9, 2014
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I thought he was a great goalie. Sure, he had a few bad ones on the Kings but it was a pretty poor team he was behind. I’m sure that played a big part in that.
I was really excited when we signed him but we played most of the year without Palffy and our depth at C was awful. Lubo and Miller missed significant time and we had the likes of Corvo, Dempsey and Gleason back there. Only Norstrom provided any stability back there and he missed 8 games also.
Given the roster his numbers were pretty good.
I was really excited when we signed him but we played most of the year without Palffy and our depth at C was awful. Lubo and Miller missed significant time and we had the likes of Corvo, Dempsey and Gleason back there. Only Norstrom provided any stability back there and he missed 8 games also.
Given the roster his numbers were pretty good.
Just getting my headspace back from 2000-2002, Cechmanek unexpectedly usurped Brian Boucher from the starting gig. Boucher nearly got Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2000 and led the league in GAA in 1999-00.
In the 2001 playoffs, Cechmanek got outplayed by Dominik Hasek in the opening round. Roman's numbers from the series were a bit skewed as he gave up 5 goals on 9 shots in the final game which understandably left a sour taste for Flyers fans as they came so close the previous year. Flyers GM Bobby Clarke was still feuding with Eric Lindros all season and it almost seemed like he refused to trade Lindros out of spite.
Philly then won the division in 2001-02 but their reward was a matchup against Ottawa who was an atypical #7 seed. 2000-01 Ottawa was a 109 point squad and 2002-03 won the President's Trophy with 113 points. The 2001-02 Sens slumped to 94 points after they dealt Alexei Yashin but they still had a good core.
Going into the 2002 trade deadline, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau went down with injuries. Clarke wasn't sure if they'd be ready for the start of the playoffs so he paid a relatively high price to rent Adam Oates. Unfortunately Roenick/Primeau did return but they weren't 100% and the lines were messed up.
Flyers ran into Ottawa in the 2003 playoffs again and were knocked out in six. Cechmanek had two shutouts against Ottawa but didn't look great in the final two games.
After being traded to the Kings, Clarke mentioned that Cechmanek had requested a trade the previous offseason.
In the 2001 playoffs, Cechmanek got outplayed by Dominik Hasek in the opening round. Roman's numbers from the series were a bit skewed as he gave up 5 goals on 9 shots in the final game which understandably left a sour taste for Flyers fans as they came so close the previous year. Flyers GM Bobby Clarke was still feuding with Eric Lindros all season and it almost seemed like he refused to trade Lindros out of spite.
Philly then won the division in 2001-02 but their reward was a matchup against Ottawa who was an atypical #7 seed. 2000-01 Ottawa was a 109 point squad and 2002-03 won the President's Trophy with 113 points. The 2001-02 Sens slumped to 94 points after they dealt Alexei Yashin but they still had a good core.
Going into the 2002 trade deadline, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau went down with injuries. Clarke wasn't sure if they'd be ready for the start of the playoffs so he paid a relatively high price to rent Adam Oates. Unfortunately Roenick/Primeau did return but they weren't 100% and the lines were messed up.
Flyers ran into Ottawa in the 2003 playoffs again and were knocked out in six. Cechmanek had two shutouts against Ottawa but didn't look great in the final two games.
After being traded to the Kings, Clarke mentioned that Cechmanek had requested a trade the previous offseason.
There was an audio parody advertisement for "The Roman Cechmanek School Of Goaltending" that I have long since lost but the one line I remember from it was "I will teach you how to turn and face the goal judge on a 2 on 1!" It was great. Still can't believe he's gone at only 52.
Vamos Rafa
Registered User
I was so excited for the 2003-04 season when we acquired him. We finally got an upgrade over Potvin.
RIP Roman
RIP Roman
