So I found this interesting interview on flamesnation.ca from 2012...
Interviewer: Roman, would you describe yourself as a
two-way forward?
Cervenka: Actually, I have
always played center.
Jagr:
But he was never lucky there. (a joke probably)
Cervenka: Here
in Russia centers are supposed to skate back and help their defensemen. We don’t do this in Czech Republic. I didn’t play defense over there.
I like it better here because I play on the left wing and there’s no problem.
So he played Center in the Czech Republic but never played any defensive hockey. Moving to the KHL was already a change for him in that he had to start back-checking and playing defensively. I suspect coming to the NHL is an even greater leap from what he was used to in the Czech Republic. It's interesting how he himself admits he likes it better playing on the wing than center despite the fact that he was billed as a potential #2 center coming to Calgary.
I think he just needs to find the right balance. He definitely needs more conditioning as he's usually the one out of breath on his line from what I can see. He has a lot of skill and scoring potential but he's also making major adjustments to his game to fit Hartley. Going by Calgaryboy's post, Cervenka was frustrated with the merit based system and was afraid of making mistakes. That's probably hindering his offensive game but it's also resulting in the player I saw yesterday who was the forward on his line who was always doubling back to backcheck and play defensively while Iginla and Hudler made riskier plays up front. There are a lot of positives in that.
http://flamesnation.ca/2012/5/8/when...elieved-in-him