Roman Turek (born May 21, 1970) is a Czech former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who played for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

in a nine-year

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(NHL) career. He last played in the Czech Extraliga for HC České Budějovice.

Playing career

Dallas Stars

Drafted 113th overall by the

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in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft on June 16, 1990, Turek moved with the franchise to

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, where he initially played as the third-string goaltender behind Andy Moog and Artūrs Irbe before serving as the backup to Ed Belfour. He won a

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in this role in 1999. Despite his backup role, he achieved international glory with the Czech Republic national team, backstopping them to a gold medal at the 1996 World Championships. In this year, he also played in Germany for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers.

St. Louis Blues

The Stars, fearing they would lose Turek to the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

in the upcoming expansion draft, traded him to the

in the 1999 off-season on June 19, 1999, and Turek finally got his chance to shine as he topped the league with seven shutouts and won the William M. Jennings Trophy in his first season. He helped the Blues to the

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy () is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e., best overall record) during the regular season. If two teams are tied for the most points, then the Trophy ...

that year and the Blues entered the

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with high expectations. However, St. Louis was eliminated in seven games by the eighth-seeded

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

, with some aggravated Blues fans pinning responsibility on Turek because of some soft goals he allowed, including one in game 7 that was fired from centre ice by Sharks captain

Owen Nolan Owen Liam Nolan (born 12 February 1972) is a Northern Irish-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for the ...

. However, he played a second season with the Blues while being challenged for the starting position by backup Brent Johnson. He put up good numbers again, this time helping the Blues reach the playoffs as the fourth seed, where they again faced the Sharks in the first round. This time, Turek helped the Blues eliminate the Sharks in six games and then helped them sweep the Dallas Stars, his former team, in the second round. However, in the third round against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

, soft goals plagued him again (including one scored after an attempt to scoop the puck into his glove with his stick) and again in some fan circles bore the brunt of the blame for the Blues' third round 4–1 ouster.

Calgary Flames

In the off-season, Turek was traded to the

on June 23, 2001. In the 2003–04 season, Turek's status as the Flames' starting goaltender was altered drastically when, following an injury to Turek, Darryl Sutter traded a conditional draft pick to the San Jose Sharks for Miikka Kiprusoff. Though he struggled in San Jose, Kiprusoff's stellar performances in Calgary relegated Turek to the bench. However, Turek was a dependable backup, as Kiprusoff led the Flames to the

2004 Stanley Cup Finals The 2004 Stanley Cup Finals was the Stanley Cup Finals, championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2003–04 NHL season, 2003–04 season, and the culmination of the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference (NHL), Easter ...

against the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

. In 2004, Turek restructured his contract to substantially drop his salary from $5 million plus bonuses for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. The restructuring brought his salary to between $1 million and $2 million, with potential earnings relying heavily on performance bonuses. The restructuring saved the Calgary Flames organization between $3 million and $4 million in the 2004–05 season. Turek announced his retirement from the NHL on August 9, 2005.

Mask design

* Turek's masks all featured

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

mascot " Eddie". The artwork was done by Ray Bishop of Bishop Custom Designs.

International play

* 1994 Played for Czech Republic at

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

* 1994 Played for Czech Republic at

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

* 1996 Won gold medal for Czech Republic at World Championships * 1996 Played for Czech Republic at

World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every three to five years from 1976 Canada Cup, 1976 to 1991 Canada Cup, 1991 ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turek, Roman 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Strakonice Calgary Flames players Czech ice hockey goaltenders Czechoslovak ice hockey goaltenders Dallas Stars players Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Minnesota North Stars draft picks Motor České Budějovice players National Hockey League All-Stars Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic St. Louis Blues players Stanley Cup champions William M. Jennings Trophy winners Ice hockey people from the South Bohemian Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Germany