Only $1.5 million? Vokoun’s agent gets the boot

by Petr Polák

Eurohockey.com

Photo: Rab Bethan.

As every businessman knows, a satisfied customer is the best promotion. Presently, Michael Deutsch, attorney and professional hockey player agent, is faced with the opposite situation. He needs to restore his name after Tomáš Vokoun decided to change agents because Deutsch couldn’t secure a satisfactory contract for his client.

If you were a 35-year-old star goaltender with no Stanley Cup on your list of achievements, you would probably feel that this is your last chance to earn a well-paid, long-term contract on a good NHL team with a chance to win the Stanley Cup. You would be looking forward to July 1 like a child looking forward to Santa Claus. At the start of July you would become a free agent and could make a deal with any team. You would see the upcoming contract negotiations as critically important.

This was the exact situation that Vokoun found himself in this summer. His $6.3 million-per-year contract with Florida came to an end and a chance to move to a contender was presented.

But the free-agent market was tough. After three days of free agency, most of the best free agents were already under new contracts but Vokoun still was not. Agent Deutsch wasn’t able to convince any of top clubs to pay $6 million or more and the Czech national team goalie had to settle for less.

He finally signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals, which comes with a Stanley Cup opportunity, but for only $1.5 million.

When a goalie who had one of the top save percentages in the league with a second-rate team like Florida has to sign a $1.5 million contract, one has to wonder what went wrong. A natural reaction is to fire the man who negotiated the contract terms.

Michael Deutsch cannot be happy about it, just as Vokoun cannot be comfortable with forfeiting almost $5 million per year. Other than Washington general manager George McPhee, who landed a premier goaltender for a bargain, the most fortunate man in this situation might be Vokoun’s new agent, Allan Walsh, who will have a shot to negotiate a better contract next summer.

Who will win the Golden Stick?

The Golden Hockey Stick (or Zlatá hokejka) is an annual award presented to the Czech hockey player who had the best season. The player can play anywhere in the world, and contributions to both his club team and the Czech national team can be taken into account. The 2011 winner will be announced on Saturday night at a special ceremony at the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, beginning at 21:00 Central European Time. It will be televised on ČT1 and webcast at ceskatelevize.cz. More information can be found at zlatahokejka2011.cz.

Following last month's World Championships, a group of panelists voted on who they felt were the ten best Czech hockey players over the past season. Each panelist ranked them one to ten, with the top-ranked player getting 10 points, and the tenth-ranked player getting 1 point. The panel included all 14 Extraliga head coaches, plus coaches from the Czech national men's senior and U20 teams, retired Czech hockey players, and members of the media.

Once the top ten finalists were determined, a second round of voting was conducted, where the panel again ranked the ten remaining players. The result of that second-round vote will be revealed on Saturday.

Here are the ten finalists, listed alphabetically:

ČERVENKA, ROMAN	Avangard Omsk (KHL)
ELIÁŠ, PATRIK	New Jersey Devils (NHL)
HAVLÁT, MARTIN	Minnesota Wild (NHL)
JÁGR, JAROMÍR	Avangard Omsk (KHL)
KREJČÍ, DAVID	Boston Bruins (NHL)
PAVELEC, ONDŘEJ	Atlanta Thrashers (NHL)
PLEKANEC, TOMÁŠ	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
STRAKA, MARTIN	HC Plzeň 1929
VOKOUN, TOMÁŠ	Florida Panthers (NHL)
ŽIDLICKÝ, MAREK	Minnesota Wild (NHL)

Of the ten finalists, seven played in the NHL, while two played in the KHL and one, Martin Straka, played at home in the Czech Extraliga. Straka, who has never won the award, would be a sentimental pick, as held the titles of President, General Manager, and team captain and had to deal with a ton of front-office headaches and still finished second in league scoring. He would be the first domestic player to win the award since Jiří Dopita in 2001.

The two KHL players, Roman Červenka and Jaromír Jágr, were linemates in Omsk. Jágr, who with nine Golden Sticks has won the award more than any other player in history, surely made his way up the voting with his performance in the World Championship, where he registered 9 points in nine games.

Jágr is one of three finalists who have won the award before. The others are the past two winners: Tomáš Vokoun and Patrik Eliáš. Like Jágr, Eliáš's presence in the Top Ten is likely aided by his World Championship performance, where he also recorded 9 points in nine games. Vokoun, on the other, hand, won the award last season based on his performance at the Worlds, but his refusal to play this season will likely prevent him from repeating. The other goaltender on the list, Ondřej Pavelec, was spectacular in goal in the Worlds, but may not have had enough of a spectacular regular season to top the voting.

Eliáš, along with Martin Havlát and David Krejčí, would seem to be the three favourites to win. The trio finished tied with 62 points to lead all Czech players in the NHL. While Eliáš and Havlát starred in the World Championship, Krejčí won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Boston Bruins and led all playoff scorers with 23 points in 25 games.

In total, 58 players received votes:

11. Tomáš Vlasák (Plzeň) 212 points, 12. Dominik Hašek (Spartak Moscow, KHL) 181, 13. Karel Rachůnek (Yaroslavl, KHL) 178, 14. Martin Růžička (Třinec) 170, 15. Milan Hejduk (Colorado, NHL), 129, 16. Jakub Štěpánek (St. Petersburg, KHL) 124, 17. Zbyněk Michálek (Pittsburgh, NHL) 108, 18. Tomáš Rolinek (Magnitogorsk, KHL) 83, 19. Milan Michálek (Ottawa, NHL) 76, 20. Tomáš Kaberle (Boston, NHL) 74, 21. Miroslav Blaťák (Ufa, KHL), 45, 22. Jakub Voráček (Columbus, NHL) 42, 23. Petr Sýkora (Davos, Switzerland) 36, 24. - 25. Michal Neuvirth (Washington, NHL) and Alexandr Salák (Färjestad, Sweden) 29, 26. Lukáš Krajíček (Třinec) 26, 27. Aleš Hemský (Edmonton, NHL) 24, 28. Petr Nedvěd (Liberec) 18, 29. Michael Frolík (Chicago, NHL) 16, 30. - 31. Jakub Kovář (České Budějovice) and Roman Málek (Vítkovice) 15, 32. Jiří Burger (Vítkovice) 14, 33. Radim Vrbata (Phoenix, NHL) 12, 34. Lukáš Kašpar (Astana, KHL) 11, 35. - 36. Roman Hamrlík (Montréal, NHL) and Jan Marek (Atlant/Yaroslavl, KHL) 10, 37. Milan Gulaš (České Budějovice) 9, 38. - 40. Petr Čajánek (St. Petersburg, KHL), Petr Hubáček (Kometa Brno) and Jiří Hudler (Detroit, NHL) 8, 41. Josef Vašíček (Yaroslavl, KHL) 7, 42. - 43. Miroslav Kopřiva (Slavia Praha) and František Ptáček (České Budějovice) 6, 44. - 45. Tomáš Duba (Zlín/Třinec) and Marek Malík (Vítkovice) 5, 46. - 48. Petr Leška (Zlín), Radek Martínek (New York Islanders, NHL) and Petr Průcha (St. Petersburg, KHL) 4, 49. - 50. Viktor Hübl (Litvínov) and Viktor Ujčík (Vítkovice) 3, 51. - 54. Jaroslav Bednář (Davos, Switzerland), Radek Bonk (Třinec), Petr Čáslava (CSKA Moscow, KHL) and Martin Růžička (Pardubice) 2, 55. - 58. Radek Duda (Chomutov/Plzeň), Jan Kovář (Plzeň), František Lukeš (Litvínov) and Ondřej Němec (Cherepovets) 1.

First awarded in 1969, the Golden Stick began essentially as an MVP award for the Czechoslovak First League, and continued to be until the administrative breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. At that time, due to the fact that most of the best Czech hockey players were now playing abroad, the award was changed to its present format, where all Czechs are eligible for the award, regardless of where in the world they play.

Past Winners:

1969 - Jan Suchý (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1970 - Jan Suchý (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1971 - František Pospíšil (D), Poldi Kladno
1972 - František Pospíšil (D), Poldi Kladno
1973 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1974 - Jiří Holeček (G), HC Sparta Praha
1975 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1976 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1977 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1978 - Ivan Hlinka (C), CHZ Litvínov
1979 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Dukla Jihlava
1980 - Peter Šťastný (C), HC Slovan Bratislava
1981 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1982 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1983 - Vincent Lukáč (RW), VSŽ Košice
1984 - Igor Liba (LW), HC Dukla Jihlava
1985 - Jiří Králík (G), HC Gottwaldov
1986 - Vladimír Růžička (C), CHZ Litvínov
1987 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1988 - Vladimír Růžička (C), Dukla Trenčín
1989 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1990 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1991 - Bedřich Ščerban (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1992 - Róbert Švehla (D), HC Dukla Trenčín
1993 - Miloš Holaň (D), TJ Vítkovice
1994 - Roman Turek (G), HC České Budějovice
1995 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Poldi Kladno/Bolzano/Schalker Haïe/Pittsburgh Penguins
1996 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
1997 - Dominik Hašek (G), Buffalo Sabres
1998 - Dominik Hašek (G), Buffalo Sabres
1999 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
2000 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
2001 - Jiří Dopita (C), HC Vsetín
2002 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Washington Capitals
2003 - Milan Hejduk (RW), Colorado Avalanche
2004 - Robert Lang (C), Washington Capitals/Detroit Red Wings
2005 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), HC Rabat Kladno/Avangard Omsk
2006 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2007 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2008 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2009 - Patrik Eliáš (LW), New Jersey Devils
2010 - Tomáš Vokoun (G), Florida Panthers

Most wins:

9 - Jaromír Jágr
5 - Dominik Hašek
4 - Vladimír Martinec
3 - Milan Nový

2 - Jan Suchý

2 - František Pospíšil

2 - Vladimír Růžička

Tomáš Vokoun says no to World Championships

The Czech national men's team continues its tune-up for this year's World Championship in Slovakia, taking on Switzerland in a pair of games in Litvínov on Friday and Saturday.

Tomáš Vokoun won't repeat this act in 2011.

They have added eight NHLers to their roster, but the big news right now is who's not coming. Czech website iSport.cz is reporting that Tomáš Vokoun, the star of last year's gold-medal-winning team, who previously made a verbal commitment to join the team following the end of the NHL season, is now not coming.

"Tomáš Vokoun isn't coming," said coach Alois Hadamczik. "His reason is that he doesn't have a contract and does not know where he will play next season. He has to deal with his family in Florida."

The starting job will now go to either Ondřej Pavelec of the Atlanta Thrashers or Jakub Štěpánek of the KHL's SKA St. Petersburg. "That's the next thing we have to decide. We have a few more days." Jakub Kovář of Mountfield České Budějovice might now stick around as the team's third stringer.


Besides Pavelec, also joining the team will be defencemen Marek Židlický and Radek Martínek, and forwards Patrik Eliáš, Martin Havlát, Milan Michálek and Jakub Voráček. More NHLers might arrive after the first round of the playoffs.

Radek Dvořák, who is suffering from a concussion, will also not join the team.

National team gets reinforcements from Slavia, goes to Belarus this weekend

After winning both games last weekend in Gjøvik, Norway by 2-1 scores, Václav Jáchim of hokej.cz is reporting that the Czech national team has made a few additions for this weekend's games in Belarus.

Jakub Štěpánek has been added to the roster of the Czech
national team. Photo: tn.nova.cz.

The biggest addition is goaltender Jakub Štěpánek of SKA St. Petersburg. Štěpánek has been a mainstay on the national team all season and is a strong bet to make the World Championship roster, though not likely as the starter. Jakub Kovář of Mountfield České Budějovice played well in both games in Norway, by all accounts. Tomáš Pöpperle of Sparta Praha, who backed up Kovář both games in Norway, won't be making the trip this time, and his ride with the national team is likely finished.

There have been four new additions to the team from Slavia Praha, who were eliminated from the Extraliga playoffs last Friday. Defenceman Vladimír Roth will be going to Belarus, as will forwards Tomáš Pospíšil, Tomáš Svoboda, and Michal Vondrka.

Karel Rachůnek of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won't be with the team this weekend, but he will join the team in Prague on Tuesday. Teammate Josef Vašiček's status is still up in the air due to a back injury. 

With Sunday being the final day of the NHL season, there will soon be more recruits coming. Presently, it is unknown if any NHLers will join the team quickly enough to play in the pair of games in Litvínov against Switzerland April 15 and 16. Probably the most anticipated addition would be goaltender Tomáš Vokoun of the Florida Panthers, who backstopped the team to last year's championship. With Florida out of the playoffs, he has indicated interested in competing again this year. Marek Židlický, Patrik Eliáš, Martin Havlát and Milan Michálek are among other expected additions.

Martin Růžička, who is currently playing for Oceláři Třinec in the Czech Extraliga finals, was a member of last year's team. Having established a new playoff scoring record this year, he will surely rejoin the national team once the series is over.

It has also been reported that Jaromír Jágr will play in the Czech Hockey Games April 21 to 24 in Brno, but it's not known if he will play at all with the national team before that.

Following the games in Litvínov and Brno, the Czechs will host Canada in their final pre-tournament game April 27 in Prague. They will then travel to Bratislava to begin defence of their championship April 30.