Roman Cervenka has done it all for Czechia in IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship play. When he next steps on the ice at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, the Czech captain will play his 100th game in this competition. In that time, he’s won two gold, two bronze and outscored the great Jaromir Jagr. Here’s a refresher of some of the big moments in a fine career.

2009: Czechia 8 Slovakia 0

It all began in 2009. Cervenka, aged 23 at the time, debuted for the Czechs in Switzerland. His first goal came in the qualification round, converting a Josef Vasicek feed late in the first period of a game against Slovakia. And the second wasn’t long in following as Roman found the net again in an 8-0 thrashing of Czechia’s next-door neighbour. 

2010: Czechia 2 Russia 1

Jaromir Jagr called this “probably the biggest surprise in hockey history.” Nobody gave the Czechs much chance of depriving Russia of a three-peat, and an indifferent start to the tournament had this team in the last-chance saloon. Yet an unheralded roster delivered. The gold-medal game was not a natural environment for Cervenka’s creativity: this was the definition of gritty hockey. But our man weighed in with an important goal early in the campaign, heading off a Latvian fightback to seal a vital win during the qualification round.

2011: Czechia 7 Russia 4

Russia again, medals again – but this was a game far more to Cervenka’s liking. He claimed a hat-trick as the Czechs got back on the podium in Bratislava in the highest-scoring bronze-medal game in IIHF World Championship or Olympic history. Sure, there was something freakish about the fourth-minute opener, Cervenka’s pass helped into the net by two Russian defenders. His second, to make it 4-3 midway through the game, also involved a defensive lapse. But the third was the embodiment of what coaches tell you from day one: anticipate the shot, get your stick down, and good things happen. Cervenka redirected a Tomas Plekanec blast to open a 5-3 lead. Late on, he assisted on a Plekanec empty-netter to make the final score 7-4.

2016: Czechia 3 Russia 0

The 2016 tournament came in the middle of a long Czech medal drought. Up against the host nation on opening night, not many gave Czechia a chance. But a defensive masterclass silenced a capacity crowd in Moscow – and at the other end, Cervenka potted a vital goal. It came early in the second period when Sergei Bobrovski padded away Jakub Jerabek’s shot and Cervenka pounced on the rebound. Czechia skated to a 3-0 win and topped Group A – but hopes of hardware would end with a shoot-out loss to the USA in the quarterfinals.

2022: Czechia 5 Latvia 1

By 2022, the Czech medal drought weighed heavy on the team. Cervenka had been absent for the previous three tournaments after producing just two assists in 2018. But he returned as captain in 2022 and proceeded to enjoy his most productive IIHF campaign, finishing with 17 (5+12) points in Finland. It wasn’t all plain sailing: a shock 1-2 loss to Austria set alarm bells ringing. Five unanswered goals in the first period against Latvia was the perfect riposte. At the time, David Pastrnak made the headlines in his first appearance of the tournament. But his first point was an assist on a Cervenka power play tally and the roles were reversed for Pasta’s first goal. The Czechs were rolling towards a medal at last.

2022: Czechia 4 Germany 1

Cervenka’s time in the NHL was limited to a half-season in Calgary as the 2012/13 lockout disrupted his hopes of making an impact across the Atlantic. But in 2022, partnered by Pastrnak and Krejci, once a noted combination for the Bruins, we got a glimpse of how he might have looked with time to establish himself in the show. His most illustrious colleagues tended to draw the spotlight, but Cervenka was a key part of the top line that negotiated a potentially tricky trip to Helsinki for this quarter-final against Germany. All three of them had a goal as the team built a 3-0 lead, and Cervenka assisted on the other two tallies as Czechia booked its place in the final four.

2022: Czechia 8 USA 4

“We started screaming every 20 seconds!” Cervenka smiled, apologizing for his hoarse voice in the mixed zone in Tampere. A crazy third period will do that to a man, especially with the Czechs ending a decade-long medal drought in some style. As in 2012, it was a high-scoring, record-breaking bronze-medal game that brought Cervenka and his team-mates joy. Six goals in that final frame brought Czechia back from behind, with captain Cervenka heavily involved. Roman had a goal – putting the Czechs up 4-3 early in the third – and assisted on a last-minute Pastrnak PP tally to surpass Jakub Voracek’s scoring record for a Czech national team at a World Championship. 

2024 – Czechia 3 Canada 4 OT

It might have been a loss, but it threw up one of the defining images of the preliminary round in Prague. The Czechs, down 1-3 to the defending champion, completed a spectacular late fightback on Cervenka’s goal 109 seconds before the end of regulation. Not usually emotional on the ice, this time the captain hurled himself jubilantly into the plexi as 17,000 fans went crazy. As well as taking the game to overtime, it also moved Cervenka to 76 points in World Championship play – breaking Jagr’s record. An achievement brushed aside by the man himself: “It’s nice, but we’re here for something else. I don’t have these things in my head, I can’t.”

2024: Czechia 2 Switzerland 0

Pastrnak’s goal and Dostal’s shut-out got the headlines. But the bigger picture was Cervenka’s second gold medal, 14 years after his first. This time, he was a go-to figure: team captain, top scorer. Asked whether this was the peak of his career at his hometown Prague Arena, he struggled to keep the emotion from his voice. “It depends on what stage you manage to win the cup,” he said. “A lot of guys still have careers ahead of them, but for me it’s really special to win it at home... Two whole weeks, everyone’s support, emotions. Every game was special.”

2025: Czechia 5 Switzerland 4 OT

It’s still early days in Herning, but Cervenka continues to drive the Czech attack. When a rollercoaster reprise of the Prague gold-medal game went to overtime, who else but Captain Cervenka popped up to rifle home his country’s winner? With 7 (2+5) points from four games so far he is second in team scoring. Will we see more magic moments to complement a spectacular career?