Roman Cervenka named IIHF Male Player of the Year 

Sam Nestler
Sam Nestler
Jun 17, 2024, 12:52 EDT
Roman Cervenka named IIHF Male Player of the Year 
Credit: KHL

On Monday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced Roman Cervenka as the 2023-24 IIHF Male Player of the Year. 

Cervenka, 38, most recently served as captain of the Czechia team that won the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championships in Prague. 

The Praha, Czechia native has spent most of his career on the international stage. He has 145 points (56 goals, 89 assists) and an unofficial plus-32 rating in 210 international games with Czechia. 

The 2024 World Championships were his 11th, as the forward finished with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 10 games for Czechia, the second-best tournament performance of his career. He racked up 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 2022.

Outside of international tournaments, Cervenka has played 18 seasons across Czechia, the Swiss league and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), plus a 39-game stint with the Calgary Flames in 2012-13. He played the past two seasons with the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the National League (Switzerland). 

In 2023-24, Cervenka continued his nearly point-per-game pace, recording 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 47 games with SC Rapperswil-Jona. He added 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 18 international games last season.

Cervenka received 31.3 percent of the vote, narrowly edging out Nashville Predators and Team Switzerland defenseman Roman Josi. Cervenka and Czechia knocked off Switzerland 2-0 in the 2024 gold-medal game. Czechia goalie Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks), who stopped all 31 shots faced in the final game of the tournament, finished third with 20.4 percent. Kevin Fiala (Switzerland, Los Angeles Kings), who was named Men’s World Championship MVP, finished fourth with 11.2 percent and Erik Karlsson (Sweden, Pittsburgh Penguins) and John Tavares (Canada, Toronto Maple Leafs) also received votes.

Cervenka will be presented with the trophy by IIHF president Luc Tardif in the coming weeks.

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