“Since I said in 2010 that I was done with catching, I haven’t missed hockey. But I never thought that I would receive a similar award and find myself in the company of amazing Czech legends,” he said as he put on a special tailor-made jacket that belongs only to members of the Hall of Fame, of which there are exactly 150. “I have always had a bag associated with golf , I didn’t even know that decent clothes were part of a similar hockey ceremony,” smiled the 53-year-old goalie, who has a gold medal from the 1996 World Cup and a Stanley Cup winner’s ring at home.
“My strongest memories are connected with the championship in Vienna, which worked out really well for me. There was a great group of guys who understood each other and believed in success on the ice,” recalled the best goalkeeper of this tournament. Just three months later, he experienced perhaps the worst period of his international career. “Actually, I don’t even want to remember much about the World Cup, nothing worked there at all,” he recounted.
Photo: Kateřina Šulová, CTK
Roman Turek in a jacket for the chosen ones
During the 1:7 debacle with the Germans in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he stood in the Czech goal for the last time. However, he still had great years ahead of him in the NHL, where he caught a total of eight seasons and saw a triumph in the playoffs with Dallas. “We were a strong tandem with Belfour, with whom you never knew in what mood you would find him. A lot of people thought he was weird, but we got along well,” said Turk.
He called Calgary the best overseas station from a personal point of view. “I liked it there and did well in hockey, I was the Flames’ number one catcher. In general, the experience in the NHL gave me a lot of positive things,” said the goalie. After returning home, he helped České Budějovice Motor to return to the extra league, then unexpectedly took up a managerial position there. “I never planned anything like this, but they literally talked me into helping out like this with the weight of my personality. But I never had the feeling that it wouldn’t be possible without me,” said the club president.
“To this day, I still like to talk to the goalkeepers here in the south. For example, we are in daily contact with Dominik Hrachovina, he wants to take on experience and get advice,” smiled the Turk, who didn’t even want to score himself. “I remember that I was looking for a place in the defense in Strakonice in the pupils, I was drawn there, but they put on the goalkeeper’s kit and I stayed in it. When I look back now, I’m actually glad that they gave me concrete back then,” said the winner of the 1994 Golden Hockey Stick poll.
2023-12-14 17:00:00
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