Just for fun, I took a look at the KHL stats leaders (their season is about 8-9 games in).
Roman Cervenka is tied for second in league scoring with SKA with 12 points (5 goals and 7 assists) in 9 games. Ilya Kovalchuk is also playing for SKA -- he has 9 points (6 goals and 3 assists). Incidentally, SKA is first in the KHL with a 7-1-1 record.
Not to be outdone, Nigel Dawes also has 12 points after 8 games for Barys; his teammate Dustin Boyd has 10 points.
Just though it was funny that out of all the obscure players in the KHL, three former Flames (all somewhat skilled but ultimately too soft) are amongst the early league leaders in KHL scoring.
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I think Cervenka could very well be a decent depth scorer in the NHL still. Wasn't an easy transition for him, and there were parts of his game that he needed to adjust in order to become more effective, but there are definitely teams in the NHL that would have made great use of Cervenka I would say. Just needed a bit more speed and/or grit - and I somewhat agree with the poster above that it could have been a conditioning issue.
I don't think ANY team could have made Cervenka better. That blood clot is scary stuff, and I'm sure it did an absolute number on the amount of gas in the tank. Just bum luck I suppose.
I am assuming Cervenka is playing the position that made him a solid player the last time he was in the KHL, and not the position that Feaster tried to sell the fan base on and Hartley tried to shove him into/hold him to the standard of a usual NHL centerman?
The blood clot was a tough start, as was getting used to the speed of the NHL which he missed out on as far as preseason, and who knows, maybe he still doesn't work out, but he was already well setup for being always behind the eightball with playing him out of position.
When he was playing WITH the puck, I think he was often the most poised and composed player on the ice.
The problem came when he didnt have the puck. And when Hartley iced him with the most bizarre line combos in history (Cervenka, Baertschi, and McGrattan? What the heck is that line even supposed to do, exactly?)
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Hope that's okay to everyone - I'll hijack that thread and give you an overview of former Flames/Heat players currently playing in the Austrian league
F Mitch Wahl (Red Bull Salzburg): 5 GP, 0 G + 1 A = 1 P, -2, 9 PIM
Wahl had a slow start to the season, but he was pretty good for Salzburg in the European Trophy (4 goals in 8 games) beforehand. In the league, he has struggled to have an impact, but Salzburg has been pretty bad in general (they were destroyed 9-1 by Vienna last weekend).
F Matt Keith (Red Bull Salzburg): 5 GP, 1 G + 0 A = 1 P, +2, 2 PIM
Keith has not been an offensive catalyst for Salzburg yet - only 2 points in 7 European Trophy games and one goal in the league so far. Like Wahl, he has been buried in the bottom six so far.
F Olivier Latendresse (Graz 99ers): 5 GP, 3 G + 0 A = 3 P, even, 0 PIM After leaving the Heat and spending a year in Germany, Latendresse has been a reliable scorer for Graz, netting 35 goals and 52 assists in his first two seasons (99 games). He got off to a good start again and after 11 and 24 goals respectively, he'll be looking to improve even further in year three.
F Dustin Sylvester (Vienna Capitals): 5 GP, 2 G + 1 A = 3 P, +1, 4 PIM
The small forward had an okay start to his first season in Europe. There's still a lot of room for improvement though, as he hasn't had a crack at first line duties so far. As a second line scorer, he has been more than fine for the Capitals.
F John Lammers (Klagenfurt): 5 GP, 3 G + 2 A = 5 P, +1, 0 PIM
Lammers only played 4 games for the Heat four years ago ... still deserves to be observed by a Flames fan though he has been an offensive catalyst for Klagenfurt (82 points in 96 games over two seasons) and his start to the season shows he's ready for an even bigger role.
F Jamie Lundmark (Klagenfurt): 0 GP
Lundmark was fantastic last year as he finished the season as the 4th best scorer of the league, scoring 58 points in 51 games. An injury has kept him out of the 2013-14 season so far, but it is to be expected that Lundmark will continue to put up huge points again.
G J.P. Lamourieux (Villach): 5 GP, 3.16 GAA, .901% svs Lamourieux has been very solid in Austria so far, finishing his first two seasons with a 2.82 and 2.92 GAA as well as .926% and .922% save percentages respectively. His start to the new season was pretty average though.
Should be all of them ... we also had Kyle Greentree last season, but he went to Switzerland this summer.
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Just for fun, I took a look at the KHL stats leaders (their season is about 8-9 games in).
Roman Cervenka is tied for second in league scoring with SKA with 12 points (5 goals and 7 assists) in 9 games. Ilya Kovalchuk is also playing for SKA -- he has 9 points (6 goals and 3 assists). Incidentally, SKA is first in the KHL with a 7-1-1 record.
Not to be outdone, Nigel Dawes also has 12 points after 8 games for Barys; his teammate Dustin Boyd has 10 points.
Just though it was funny that out of all the obscure players in the KHL, three former Flames (all somewhat skilled but ultimately too soft) are amongst the early league leaders in KHL scoring.
The KHL must suck if those 3 guys are lighting it up.
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Steve Montador among KHL league leaders for penalty minutes.
No word on whether Chris Simon and Ratis Ivanans are both back in the KHL this season. They both played last year, with Simon having a slightly better statistical year that Ratis.
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The KHL must suck if those 3 guys are lighting it up.
Small guys, big ice. Do the math. But if you think that everyone that can't produce in the NHL sucks, then I guess you're right, but to me that's a little small minded. The NHL is just for the best. Lots of good hockey players don't make it for whatever reason and lots of good hockey being played outside the NHL.
Leland Irving has had a good start in Finland: 1.52 gaa, 94.05%.
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More interested in guys like Saprykin, Taratukhin, Trubachev etc.
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Former Flames in the KHL...
