Twice Roman Cervenka was the top scorer of the National League. Half a year after his premature departure from Rapperswil, the Czech superstar returns to Switzerland at the Spengler Cup.

Roman Cervenka has spent eight years of his illustrious career in Switzerland. He played for Gottéron, the ZSC Lions, and, finally, five highly successful years for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, where he was the captain and finished atop the league in scoring in 2022 and 2023.

In the summer, the nearly 39-year-old forward departed to Pardubice despite a running contract; he signed with Dynamo for two years. He could simply not resist the temptation to spend the latter stage of his career in his own country. Cervenka is a national treasure of sorts in the Czech Republic - not only since capturing world championship gold in Prague against Switzerland last May. The offer from Pardubice was attractive – financially and competitively. Cervenka says, ‘once you’ve had your hands on a trophy, you want to experience that feeling again.’ Currently the Lakers do not have the financial means to seriously compete for a title. On the other hand, Pardubice, backed by billionaire Petr Dedek, does.

Cervenka shall help secure the first championship title since 2012; after previously finishing atop the regular season standings in the past two years, Pardubice dramatically came up short in the playoffs.  And it is doing everything to change that – the club is making big moves. Cervenka was the top transfer, but by far not the only eye-catching signing. Forward Martin Kaut, returning from the NHL, signed a ten-year contract this summer. ‘The club has huge ambitions’, says Cervenka. ‘That impresses me. The pace of the organisation is high. They want to make things happen in big steps here’, he adds.

Last year’s finalist has lofty goals at the Spengler Cup as well. For Cervenka the tournament is a return to a country that means a lot to him. He says, ‘I love Switzerland. I spent some wonderful years there. And of course, there are things that I miss. I am not a huge fan of those cheese dishes… But the chocolate with coffee, that was definitely better in Switzerland.’ Over the years, Cervenka has received several requests to reinforce  various teams at the Spengler Cup. He always declined and explains it as follows: ‘It would have been weird for me. I am either part of a team, or not. To wear a different jersey for a few games would not have been for me. But I am very pleased that it will now happen with Pardubice. The tournament has so much tradition, I look forward to it.’ And then he adds, ‘and I hope to see many “Rappi” fans there. That would be nice.’

It could be the last chance to admire Cervenka on Swiss ice. But not necessarily – Cervenka says he does not intend to end his career in 2026. ‘I am healthy and am having fun. I don’t see a reason not to keep playing.’ He could possibly look to the shining light of Jaromir Jagr for inspiration; his former national team colleague is still playing for Kladno at age 52.

Text: SLAPSHOT, das Hockey-Magazin der Schweiz    Foto: IMAGO/CTK Photo

Tickets to the 96th Spengler Cup are available for presale online erhältlich. Further tickets to all games will be released continuously.