Ondrej Roman Profile

The main factor in Ondrej Roman's decision to begin playing organized hockey was his father, a former hockey player. He performed only at the youth levels and called it a career early and then pursued a career as an engineer. Roman entered the 1st grade team in his native city Ostrava, Czech Republic when he was four-year-old and just about to start attend preschool. He could choose between two teams located in Ostrava, the mighty Extraleague franchise Vitkovice and the lesser-known, provincial team Sareza Ostrava. But eventually it was the Sareza rink where he stepped on the ice for the first time.

Genetics would determine him to play forward and Roman also began to learn the tools of the forward trade from the first practices. He didn't complain about this fact and thanks to his attitude and valuable tips from both his father and coach he emerged as one of the best players on his team. He took advantage of his natural talent and very good vision, which enabled him to impress with his outlet passes. Roman possessed one asset which can't be taught and this separated him from the other kids of the team, which couldn't see the ice as well as he could.

Performing at center suited Roman well as he could make use of his talent and creativity and wasn't tied up with the defensive work so much. Ondrej Roman soon took the scoring chart of his team by storm. After some time it was obvious that Roman won't benefit from playing against players of his own age and was promoted to the one year older team. He could hone his skills against physically more mature players and kept a steady development. Roman didn't need to show any physical side in his play and his smallish and skinny frame didn't hurt him at this point as he could outplay the opponents with his smarts without having to show any grit. Roman's best season on the pee-wee level came in the 6th grade, when he spent parts of the season performing for teams formed of older kids. He found a good chemistry with his linemates and scored without any significant slump. In 29 games for the Sareza Ostrava 6th grade team Roman amassed 56 points (38+18). At that time he began to be talked about as one of the most talented kids in his region. He benefited from the fact that head coach Vladimir Gleich provided him with a significant portion of playing time and let him play his offensive game.

But as Roman grew in age, it was time to think about moving up to the midget level. And when he just finished the season for the 7th grade team of Ostrava, he received an invitation to the summer camp of the midget team as a twice underager. Given his smallish and fragile frame he didn't manage to win a regular roster spot but was invited to a cup of coffee as the season loomed its end because he made clear that he has nothing to prove against kids of his own age or against one year older on the 9th grade team. In 2002-2003 Ondrej Roman dressed out for six midget games, scoring two points (1+1) and no penalty minutes. He suffered a broken hand during the season, but the injury is fully healed now and won't have any future impact on his career.

In the summer of 2001 was Ondrej Roman along with the best of his youth team teammates promoted to the Ostrava midget team to compete in the midget Extraleague. Ostrava midget team, coached by experienced coach Karel Metelka, was willing to start an influx of underaged youth to the roster in order to be more competitive in the next season. Roman was used mostly on the second or third line and recorded a very good rookie season in the midget Extraleague as he emerged as the only rookie to score more than a point-per-game on the elite Czech midget level. He adjusted to the faster pace in rapid time and contributed offensively during the whole season with above-average consistency. The only knock against Ondrej Roman's season was the fact that his efforts couldn't lift his Sareza Ostrava team to the midget Extraleague playoffs. En route to his first full season on the midget level Roman performed in 55 games, where he amassed 65 points (38+27), a +/- of +19 and 61 PIM.

A Boston Bruins' fan, Roman began his international career in 2003-2004 with the Czech Under-16 team consisting of the 1988 borns. Thanks to his skill level and achievements he registered his international debut on the most important event of the season, the Four Nations Tournament, despite being an underager. Roman finished scoreless on his first international tournament, but in general pulled off an acceptable performance for a rookie on the international stage.

Ondrej Roman recorded a comet-like 2004-2005 season, playing his way out of the midget team and establishing himself as a junior Extraleague regular. He made use of all his previous experience from the midget Extraleague to pull off a reign of doom during the opening two months of the regular season. Roman didn't have to carry all the team's offense on his shoulders as he was accompanied by other now more experienced teammates, especially his longtime linemate Jan Kolarik and this helped him to skyrocket the scoring charts. The opposing defensemen couldn't focus just on him and Roman filled the role of an offensive catalyst of the first line of the team. Roman scored at a nearly three-point-per game pace, tearing the opponents apart and registering 27 points (8+19) in the first 10 midget games of the season, that along with a +/- of +16 and 24 PIM. He had nothing to prove on the midget level and in late October was promoted already to the junior team. Ostrava juniors head coach Josef Stoudek wanted to test his abilities in the junior Extraleague and Roman succeeded well in this trial. Even if he played as a twice underager against players sometimes five years older than him, he looked composed out on the ice and put up points from the beginning. Roman established himself as the best underaged rookie on the Ostrava junior team, where he filled his usual playmaking role, scoring four points (2+2) in his first seven junior games. Those solid achievements earned him interest from teams with a senior Extraleague team."My agent collected three offers for me, from Pardubice, Trinec and the Sareza Ostrava arch rival, Vitkovice. Eventually, I decided to accept the Vitkovice offer".This move enabled Roman to stay in his hometown while performing for a well-established developmental system with a long tradition. Overall in his first season on the junior level Roman took part in 37 games, notching 15 points (10+5), a +/- of -1 and 18 PIM.

Roman spent a part of the 2004-2005 international season with the Czech Under-17 team, participating in the three-game series against the Finnish Under-17 team, played in the Czech Republic in November, and most notably the European Youth Olympics, played in Monthey, Switzerland, where the Czechs claimed the gold medals."This gold medal is the biggest success of my career so far. Everything went well on that tourney and we ended up as winners."

Roman joined the junior national team of the 1989 borns in late December for the three-game series against the Russian peers. Roman clicked well with belligerent sniper Jakub Voracek, a 2007 eligible blue chipper and the two created arguably the most lethal duo in the series.

Ondrej Roman, who considers Ottawa Senators' Martin Havlat his hockey role model, emerged as a leader of the Vitkovice juniors in 2005-2006. Head coach Mojmir Trlicik provided him with a spot on the first line alongside his longtime linemate Jan Kolarik and twice underager Jan Kana and Roman responded with a consistent productivity. He showed his deft playmaking ability and crisp passing skills on both short and long distance, but raised concerns about his pro potential with his occasional fragile play and an inability to survive tight traffic areas particularly also thanks to a low willingness to stick his nose into those areas. His offensive output peaked in late November and December, where he could exceed the point-per-game plateau and solidify his spot in the top ten of the junior Extraleague scoring chart. Roman was hit by hard luck when finishing the scoring chances in February, but could be useful to his team with his vision and playmaking. However, the Vitkovice juniors didn't enjoy a long playoff run as the team was eliminated in the second round and Roman along with the rest of his 1989 and 1990 born teammates were sent back down to the midget team to help them in their championship run. The Vitkovice midgets' playoff life was much longer as the squad swept all opponents including the slightly favorite Slavia Praha midgets in the finals and ended up as 2005-2006 midget Extraleague champions, with Roman as the main offensive catalyst. In four midget playoff games Roman scored 9 points (1+8) along with a +/- of +5 and no PIM. His stats from the junior level are also impressive as Roman amassed 47 points (17+30) in 51 games, a +/- of +21 and 46 PIM.

The 2005-2006 season marked Ondrej Roman's senior Extraleague debut. A standout on the junior level, Roman took part in one scoreless game when the roster of the senior team was depleted with injuries.

Roman started the 2005-2006 international season with the Czech Under-17 team at the Five Nations Tournament, played in Switzerland in late August. On the only event with the 1989 born team Roman tore the opponents apart as he scored 9 points (2+7) in four games. He was promoted to the Under-18 team for the November international break and made the trip to Prievidza, Slovakia, to take part in the Four Nations Tournament of the Under-18 teams. He registered a shaky start into the tournament, but upgraded on his performance in the second and third game to earn an adequate rating from this tournament. During the December international break Roman participated along with his teammates from the Czech Under-18 team in the four-game series against the Swedish peers. In Sweden Roman didn't stand out, but played an acceptable game and scored one goal, which was good for the third place overall in Czech scoring. After sitting out the February international break Roman battled his way into the Under-18 WJC squad and returned to Sweden for the Under-18 WJC. On a line with Martin Bartos and 2006 blue-chipper Jakub Voracek, Roman was outplayed by the performances of his wingers and registered only an average tournament with one point (0+1) en route to the bronze medal success.

Ondrej Roman is a solid skater with a smooth fluid stride. He is able to reach top speed quickly and possesses an above-average agility and acceleration. Roman should upgrade on lower-body strength and balance. He emerges an above-average stickhandler and is very smooth at corralling a difficult pass using either his stick or skates to gain possession. He boasts a good vision and hockey sense. Roman utilizes on his strong playmaking skills. He is aware of the positioning of his linemates and is patient with the puck, waiting for plays to unfold and then finding an open linemate. Roman distributes crisp hard pin-point passes and is a good asset to a scorer. He possesses decent finishing skills but can be occasionally careless. Roman likes to deke goalies in-close. He unleashes a hard accurate snap shot but should use his slap shot to a bigger extent. Roman shows an adequate defensive awareness. He marks his man quickly but should upgrade on defensive positioning. Roman isn't overly aggressive, he relies on smarts more than on toughness. He should improve on his traffic play and definitely add more strength to his 5'11'', 164 lbs. frame.

In order to be better prepared for his future career in North America Roman takes English courses this year. He still continues his secondary education on a business academy in his hometown Ostrava. In his free time he is often just relaxing to have enough strength for hockey games and practices or learning stuff for school. But when he has some more spare time left, Roman likes to do various sports. He is a good floorball player, which is a sport similar to hockey."Floorball is my favorite sport besides hockey. I used to play it numerous times a week before my contract in Vitkovice has forbidden me any other sports on an organized level. We made it with our floorball team to the championship tournament, where only the top Czech teams participate and I liked to play it a lot."

Ondrej Roman is likely to come over to play in the CHL next season. Represented by former NHL defenseman Petr Svoboda, Roman is ready to accept the CHL challenge. Speaking decent English, Roman shouldn't have such a tough transition as other not so prepared prospects may have language-wise, but the different style of play with a bigger physical contact will probably be a factor he will need to get used for a longer time. Thanks to his 1989 birthdate he isn't eligible until the 2007 NHL Entry Draft comes around. Based on pure talent along, Roman could be among one of the early picks, but it will depend from his play in the next season and especially in his needed progress in his physical assertiveness and traffic play. Good luck!