He did not grow up for Vejmelek’s national team, he is unique in the NHL
COMMENTARY OF LUBOŠ BRABCE Former Brno goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka is going through an unlikely story. He left for Arizona in the summer, at the age of twenty-five, without national teams, six seasons after the draft (where Nashville chose him), and therefore with little hope of capturing the Coyotes. He signed a two-way contract that would secure him only $ 80,000 on the farm. Nevertheless, he won a place in the NHL. He already has fifteen matches and the first zero.
It is a rarity in the history of the competition. It has not yet happened for a Czech goalkeeper to come from Europe, without any overseas training, and he immediately made a team. Neither Jiří Crha, nor Dominik Hašek, nor Roman Turek. The closest was Roman Čechmánek – Philadelphia coaches confirmed after three games on the farm that they belong to the NHL.
Unlike them, however, Vejmelka stepped on the stage. He is not a world champion or a star of European ice. The Extraliga has had more goalkeepers in recent years. Even fans of Kometa will probably admit that they did not see the unwavering certainty that the team will reach the heights. A national team? Not a knock, as mentioned in the introduction. Unless we count that one match last year, Karjale won one match on the substitute as a substitute for Mark Langhamer.
Of course, it is possible that Vejmelka will not knock on the gates of the winter in Tucson in a month. But the first months of his American journey confirm that if you want to succeed in professional hockey, you must have, in addition to talent, also a lot of luck, which others lack and have missed.
Karel Vejmelka celebrates winning on the LA Kings ice
You have to be in the right place at the right time. Not to have the hard-to-penetrate wall in front of you, which Marek Mazanec found a few years ago in a similar attempt to break into the NHL in the person of the Nashville legend Pekka Rinne. Don’t take the first steps in a team that is currently considering the Stanley Cup.
In short, loose clothes hung in Coyotes’s cabin, so Vejmelka reached for him. And he’s not going to just give it back. In addition, in the coming weeks and months it can catch with a clear head. He doesn’t have to be stressed if the next mine doesn’t jeopardize the team’s hopes of the playoffs. No, they’re already in the dust in early December.
He is only on the ice for himself. So far, he has been successfully completing an overseas hockey course, at the end of which there could be a new contract. One that turns an unexpected brigade into a full-fledged job.