Former NHL goaltender Roman Cechmanek dead at 52

Roman Cechmanek, a former NHL goaltender won an Olympic gold medal with Czechia in Nagano 1998, is dead at the age of 52.

According to iSport.cz, a Czech sports website, the circumstances of his sudden death are not yet known. His son Roman was reportedly the one who found him and called authorities.

Cechmanek went undrafted in his late teens and early twenties, getting drafted at age 29 in the sixth round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. In his rookie season in 2000-21, he stole the Flyers’ starting job and finished with a 35-15-6 record, a .921 save percentage and a goals-against-average (GAA) of 2.01, including 10 shutouts.

Named an All-Star in his rookie season, he finished runner-up to fellow Czech Dominik Hasek for the Veznia Trophy. He also finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting.

His next two seasons were equally dominant statistics-wise, going 24-13-6 with a .921 save percentage and a .205 GAA with four shutouts in 2001-02, followed by a 33-15-10 record with career-highs in save percentage (.925) and GAA (1.83).

He shared a William M. Jennings Trophy in 2002-03 with teammate Robert Esche and New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur. After the season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick.

His 2003-04 season was a step down, finishing with an 18-21-6 record with a .906 save percentage, a GAA of 2.51 and five shutouts.

While the NHL was locked out during the 2004-05 season, he returned to Europe to play in Czechia, Germany and Sweden. He retired following the 2008-09 campaign.

Only playing four seasons in North America, Cechmanek left quite an impact. All three of his seasons with the Flyers sit in the franchise’s top-10 single seasons for both save percentage and GAA, with his 2002-03 GAA of 1.83 sitting first.

Before playing in North America, Cechmanek played six seasons for HC Vsetin in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of hockey in the country. He won five consecutive league titles between 1994-95 and 1998-99 and was named the best goaltender of the year in each of those five seasons.

On top of a gold medal in 1998, the native of Chrudim, Czechia won three World Championship gold medals in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

He is survived by three children, sons Jakub, Roman and daughter Katerina.