Roman Čechmánek (; 2 March 1971 – 11 November 2023) was a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender. He played professionally in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Germany, including in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings from 2000 to 2004. Čechmánek also played for the Czech national team at multiple international tournaments, including seven World Championships.

Playing career Čechmánek played for HC Vsetín in the Czech Republic from 1994 to 2000. He was drafted in the sixth round as the 171st overall pick of the 2000 NHL entry draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers traded veteran John Vanbiesbrouck hoping the newly-opened backup goaltender position would encourage Čechmánek, who had previously rejected offers from other NHL teams to come to North America, to sign a contract, which he did a few weeks after the draft. In his first season with the Flyers, Čechmánek surprised many by capturing the starting job from Brian Boucher and being one of the best goaltenders in the league. In his first season, he played in the NHL All-Star Game and finished second in voting for the Vezina Trophy. He had a disappointing playoff, however, including allowing five goals in an 8–0 loss in the final game of the Flyers' first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres.

The next season Čechmánek had another good year and played fairly well in the first round of the playoffs. However the Philadelphia offense failed, scoring a record-low number of only two goals in five games against the Ottawa Senators. Čechmánek was publicly annoyed at his teammates' performance and was replaced by Boucher in the series-elimination game 5. The next year he had another superior season, sharing the William M. Jennings Trophy with Flyers teammate Robert Esche, and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. Čechmánek recorded two shutouts in a second round loss to Ottawa but many blamed him for the loss due to the number of soft goals he allowed in the other four games. At the end of the season he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round draft pick.

Playing behind a mediocre Kings team, Čechmánek had a disappointing season in 2003–04. He returned to the Czech Republic to play with his old team HC Vsetín during the cancelled 2004–05 NHL season. He split the 2005–06 hockey season between HC Karlovy Vary and the Hamburg Freezers. In the beginning of 2007, Čechmánek left Linköpings HC and was replaced by Rastislav Staňa. He then played for HC Oceláři Třinec in the Czech Extraliga for three seasons. He retired following the 2008–09 season.

International play Čechmánek was on the Czech national team at both the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics, but did not play any games, instead serving as backup to goaltender Dominik Hašek. Čechmánek won a gold medal in 1998. His other appearances were in the 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, and 2007 World Championships.

Personal life and death Čechmánek was born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia on 2 March 1971. He died on 12 November 2023, at the age of 52.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1988–89 TJ Gottwaldov CSSR Jr 35 — — — — — — — 3.43 — — — — — — — — — 1988–89 TJ Gottwaldov CSSR 1 0 0 0 — 13 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 TJ Zlín CSSR 2 0 0 0 — 89 5 0 3.37 .875 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 ASD Dukla Jihlava CSSR 9 — — — — 447 18 2 2.42 .909 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 TJ DS Olomouc CSSR 13 — — — — 731 54 0 4.43 — — — — — — — — — 1991–92 AC ZPS Zlín CSSR 2 0 1 0 — 67 8 0 7.73 — — — — — — — — — 1991–92 SHK Hodonín CZE-2 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1992–93 SHK Hodonín CZE-2 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1993–94 TJ Zbrojovka Vsetín CZE-2 41 — — — — — — — 1.43 — — — — — — — — — 1994–95 HC Dadák Vsetín CZE 41 21 12 8 — 2,413 98 5 2.44 .923 11 9 2 609 24 1 2.36 .924 1995–96 HC Dadák Vsetín CZE 36 22 9 5 — 2,081 76 4 2.19 .921 13 12 1 783 17 2 1.30 .957 1996–97 HC Petra Vsetín CZE 48 31 11 6 — 2,760 100 3 2.17 .929 10 9 1 602 10 2 1.00 .966 1997–98 HC Petra Vsetín CZE 41 26 11 4 — 2,245 77 8 2.06 .934 10 9 1 600 16 1 1.60 .947 1997–98 HC Petra Vsetín EuroHL 5 3 2 — — 307 12 1 2.34 .903 4 2 2 240 10 1 2.50 .915 1998–99 HC Slovnaft Vsetín CZE 36 22 4 10 — 2,155 67 3 1.87 .938 11 8 3 675 22 1 1.96 .926 1998–99 HC Slovnaft Vsetín EuroHL 2 0 2 — — 119 8 0 4.03 — — — — — — — — — 1999–00 HC Slovnaft Vsetín CZE 37 20 10 7 — 2,141 88 2 2.47 .924 9 6 3 543 15 3 1.66 .944 2000–01 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 3 1 1 0 — 160 3 0 1.12 .969 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 59 35 15 6 — 3,431 115 10 2.01 .921 6 2 4 347 18 0 3.12 .891 2001–02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 46 24 13 6 — 2,603 89 4 2.05 .921 4 1 3 227 7 1 1.85 .936 2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 58 33 15 10 — 3,350 102 6 1.83 .925 13 6 7 867 31 2 2.14 .909 2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 49 18 21 6 — 2,701 113 5 2.51 .906 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Vsetínská Hokejová CZE 35 15 18 2 — 1,974 88 3 2.67 .922 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 HC Energie Karlovy Vary CZE 12 4 7 1 — 594 29 1 2.93 .915 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Hamburg Freezers DEL 27 — — — — 1,535 66 3 2.58 .909 6 2 4 366 17 0 2.78 .910 2006–07 Linköpings HC SEL 26 10 11 4 — 1,490 67 0 2.70 .905 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 HC Oceláři Třinec CZE 6 4 2 — 0 371 12 0 1.94 .948 9 5 4 569 20 0 2.11 .943 2007–08 HC Oceláři Třinec CZE 18 4 14 — 0 977 53 0 3.25 .916 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 HC Oceláři Třinec CZE 34 16 18 — 0 1,823 99 2 3.26 .916 — — — — — — — —CZE totals 344 185 116 43 0 19,534 787 31 2.41 .926 73 58 15 4,381 124 10 1.70 .945NHL totals 212 110 64 28 — 12,086 419 25 2.08 .919 23 9 14 1,440 56 3 2.33 .909

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1989 Czechoslovakia EJC 6 — — — 319 16 0 3.01 — 1991 Czechoslovakia WJC 3 — — — 151 5 — 1.99 — 1995 Czech Republic WC 1 0 1 0 60 4 0 4,00 .902 1997 Czech Republic WC 8 5 3 0 479 17 0 2,13 .929 1998 Czech Republic WC 2 2 0 0 108 3 0 1,68 .929 1999 Czech Republic WC 5 3 1 0 197 8 1 2,44 .900 2000 Czech Republic WC 8 7 1 0 480 16 1 2,00 .925 2004 Czech Republic WC 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1,00 .944 2007 Czech Republic WC 7 3 4 — 418 18 0 2,58 .894Junior totals 9 — — — 470 21 — 2.68 —Senior totals 32 21 10 0 1,802 67 2 2,23 —

Awards and honours Award Year Ref Bobby Clarke Trophy 2000–01, 2002–03 Czech Extraliga Best Goaltender 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 NHL All-Star Game 2001 NHL Second All-Star Team 2000–01 William M. Jennings Trophy 2002–03 World Championship All-Star Team 2000

Notes

References

External links