Flames sign center Roman Cervenka
Wednesday, 02.05.2012 / 11:32 AM / News
calgaryflames.com
CALGARY, AB – The Calgary Flames announced today that they have signed center Roman Cervenka.
“Roman is a highly skilled player with great hands, excellent vision and the ability to score goals at an elite level of play,” said Flames General Manager Jay Feaster. “Our scouts in Europe identified him as someone who could slot into our top six forward group and play in the NHL as a top two line centre. John Weisbrod went to see him play early in the KHL Playoffs and came away confirming everything we had heard from our scouts in Europe. We made an aggressive pitch to convince him that Calgary was the perfect place for him to start his NHL career, and we are extremely pleased Roman agreed. We look forward to welcoming him to the Flames and our great city.”
Cervenka played the last two years with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). During the 2010-11 season he received the top goal scorer award, registering 31 goals in 51 games while playing alongside fellow countryman Jaromir Jagr. He was also selected to play in the KHL All-Star Game collecting more fan votes than any other player in the league. During 2011-12, the Prague native recorded 23 goals during the regular season while notching a league leading 22 points from 11 goals and 11 assists in 20 playoff games. Cervenka has represented the Czech Republic with the national team on multiple occasions. He earned a bronze medal at the 2005 World Junior Championships. He also played at the 2009 IIHF World Championship and the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Contract terms: 1 year contract with an Average Annual Value of $3,775,000.
ROMAN CERVENKA – CENTER
BORN: Prague, Czech Republic DATE: December 10, 1985
HEIGHT: 5’11’’ WEIGHT: 201 lbs.
SHOOTS: Left
HOW ACQUIRED: Signed as a free agent on May 2, 2012.