Commercial presentation Updated: 12/05/2024 00:47 Issued: 12/05/2024, 00:47
Norway – Czech Republic, World Hockey Championship Group A match, May 11, 2024, Prague. From right, Roman Červenka from the Czech Republic, Christian Kaasastul from Norway and goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland from Norway. CTK/Kamaryt Michal
Prague – The captain of the ice hockey team, Roman Červenka, played his 200th game in the independent Czech national team at the World Championship in Prague against Norway. He became the 20th player in the Federal Era to reach that mark. He celebrated the anniversary after turning from 1:3 to 6:3 with a win, under which he also scored two goals. But in an interview with journalists, he said that the three-point win for the team was the most important of all.
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The 38-year-old Červenka is the third player in the history of the independent Czech national team to reach the milestone. Before him, only forward David Výborný (219) and defender Petr Čáslav (201) managed to do it. The overall record holder is striker Jiří Holík with 319 duels.
“I didn’t think about it until I heard it at the skating rink. Of course, it was special and pleasant, but at the same time, due to the development of the match, there was no time to think about it,” said Červenka, who is already playing in the eleventh championship.
“I don’t want to chase my statistics here, the important thing is the win. It didn’t go well and it’s very important to turn around such a match and confirm the previous win over the Finns. We have a day off on Sunday, so we can rest a bit, clear our heads and prepare for the Swiss.” said Červenka.
But he made no secret of the fact that he was pleased by the words of David Výborny, who estimated that Červenka would beat his “Czech record”. “Of course I’m happy. I grew up when his generation was winning gold medals, and it was a big motivation for me to ever play as a boy. Those guys were an important engine for me to get to where I am. But that one day I will have so many matches alone, I never dreamed of it,” said Červenka.
One of the teammates from the current selection, Lukáš Sedlák, called him a legend. “I wouldn’t exaggerate…” smiled Červenka. “A lot of guys congratulated me already when I started skating. It was a nice moment, but the important thing is the win. The numbers are nice, but we’re here for something else. That’s the only thing I’m focused on. 17 thousand people came, there was a great atmosphere. Every victory – and actually the very moment on the ice in front of such an audience – it’s amazing.”
He admitted that when the Norwegians made it 3-1 after his opening strike, he was not feeling well. “It was unpleasant. But we have also experienced such situations in the past. The important thing was a quick goal to make it 2:3, thanks to it we stayed in the match. At the break we said to ourselves that we will simply win this match. Anyway, whatever it will be by a goal or by seven, it doesn’t matter. Three points count. In the second period, we had a lot of chances, we equalized and saved the other goals for the third period,” said Červenka.
It was he again who started the next turn in the game. “After the first period (with a score of 2:3) we were relatively calm, but after the third conceded goal we were so down, which shouldn’t happen to us. At the beginning of the second period we defended a weakened three on five, which was an important moment , then it was already good. In the first third, we left Petr Mrázek in it. And even though he was no longer in such a permanent position, he made great saves,” praised Červenka.
He considers it important that the team showed character right from the beginning of the championship. “It’s not easy to turn around such matches. I’ve experienced a lot of them when we succeeded, but also a number of those that we didn’t manage. It would be a shame to let it be taken away immediately after the win over the strong Finns. We all realized the importance of the match, no one he didn’t want to underestimate him,” said Červenka.
In the end, Dominik Kubalík’s condition remained a shadow of uncertainty. After crashing into the guardrail in the third period, he finally finished the match, but the question is with how much self-denial. “We have to leave that to the doctors. But since he came back, I hope it will be good and he will be able to continue normally,” Červenka believed.
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