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Červenka is chasing Voráček at the World Championships. Mr. player, says Růžička. He never understood remorse

Since the arrival of David Pastrňák, the main focus on the world championship in the Czech team has revolved around player number 88. However, Roman Červenka, the captain and Pastrňák’s partner from the first formation, shines from the beginning of the tournament. With a balance of 4 + 10, he leads the most productive hockey players of the World Cup and attacks the Czech record. The national team will also rely on its leader in today’s semifinals with Canada.

Tampere (from our newsletter) – If you asked him about the personal balance, he would answer 100% that he does not think about it. Of course, Roman Červenka came to the World Championships in Tampere to fight for team success: after ten years for the Czechs to finally win a medal.

Nevertheless, his sum of four goals and ten assists in eight matches catches the eye at first glance. Červenka leads the tournament’s productivity with him, ahead of the second Pierre-Luc Dubois from Canada (7 + 5) and the third Swiss Denis Malgin (5 + 7).

“He is very well and he is doing well, which is good,” acknowledges Červenek’s performance by former national team coach Vladimír Růžička. “He played very well at the Olympics, now he just confirms it,” he recalls.

During the loss in Beijing, Červenka, with a 2 + 3 balance, was the leading man in Czech scoring and one of the few players who withstood the stricter standard. The new national team coach Kari Jalonen also chose him for the team.

“He is not alone, he has teammates around him, the whole team. But I must say that he plays well. He has experience, he handles the role of captain correctly,” Jalonen replied before the semifinals against Canada.

In the Tampere, he had a combination with David Krejčí from the beginning of the World Championships, and he helped the young man Matěj Blümel to great performances. After the team was joined by David Pastrňák, Jalonen combined the three.

The cooperation started immediately in the first duel with the Latvians and graduated especially in the quarterfinals with the Germans. Červenka, Krejčí and Pastrňák broke the match with three goals in power play. And which ones.

“It was all a golden helmet action,” laughed Hynek Zohorn. “Roman is always in shape when he comes to the national team. He’s just continuing this year in the tournament. He’s an amazing leader,” he said specifically to Cervenko.

“All three are smart players, they have an excellent shot and a record. It can be seen that they enjoy it together,” Růžička adds to the interplay of the elite attack. “The worm collected a lot of passes, scored some goals. With the arrival of Pasta, it got even better, because he has perfect vision,” comments coach Litvínova.

He helped take Červenka to big hockey almost twenty years ago in Prague’s Slavia. When the attacker was twenty-three, Růžička took him as a national team coach at the first World Cup, in 2009 in Switzerland.

Since then, Červenka has become an integral part of the national team. He was the title of world champion in Germany in 2010, he won bronze in Bratislava a year later. Růžička took him to all five major tournaments he could, including the Vancouver Olympics.

“He was always a great player at the time. A lot of people said that I only take him there because he plays in Slavia. That’s why I’m glad that he still confirms what a player he is,” says Růžička.

After unsuccessful tournaments, Červenka was often a real lightning rod of critical public reactions. It was as if people in the national team were expecting more from him when he shone so brightly on the club scene. In Europe, he established himself wherever he went. He won the KHL and has now played a key role in Swiss teams for six years.

“Criticism from people has often been directed at him, and in addition to his abilities on the ice, he is also a great heartthrob,” Růžička does not understand. After the 2018 World Cup in Copenhagen, Červenka took a break from the national team for four years. To return in full swing this year.

Already after five matches in Tampere, he surpassed his personal point maximum at the World Cup. At that time he had 11 points (3 + 8) and so far he has accumulated the most in Slovakia eleven years ago (4 + 6).

With the current balance of 4 + 10, he already called the performance of Michael Frolík (7 + 7 at the World Championship 2019) and Martin Procházka with Vladimír Vůjtek Jr. (both had 7 + 7 at the World Championship 1997). Only Jakub Voráček, who scored 16 points (4 + 12) in Bratislava three years ago, is the only one of the Czech hockey players at the World Cup.

A walk with Vůjtek are the first and at the same time the last Czechs who managed to master the Canadian scoring of the championship.

Červenka has two more matches to gain three points and beat Voráček’s Czech maximum. Although it goes without saying that personal statistics are, in addition to the fight for the coveted medal, secondary to the Czech captain.

“The tournament is well underway, the match with Canada will not be easy, but I believe that the team will prepare and manage it,” says Růžička. The main expectations will lie again with Červenek’s formation.

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