Prospecting: Roman Horak

BORN: May 21, 1991
HOMETOWN: Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
HEIGHT: listed at 6'0", but I doubt he's even 5'11"
WEIGHT: 171 pounds
DRAFTED: 5th round, 127th
ACQUIRED: with 2 2nd round picks (Markus Granlund and Tyler Wotherspoon) for Tim Erixon and a 5th round pick (Shane McColgan)

If someone had told me 2 months ago that Roman Horak would make the Calgary Flames' lineup out of training camp, I'd have called them an insane optimist.  "Obviously," I would have asserted, "Paul Byron is much closer to the NHL, having been a 50 point player in the AHL last season.  I think you may have been taking your positive pills this moring.  Horak may be a decent player in the NHL some day, but that day is a few years down the road."  Well, I would have been wrong, so it's good that no one tried to make that claim.  Indeed, I don't think anyone saw this coming.

After sitting for 2 games, Roman Horak found himself back in the roster for the Nashville and Colorado games.  The Flames are probably pretty happy that Sutter put the youngster back in, because he potted his first goal, and added an assist in a win over the pesky Avalanche.

The main reason Horak has seen a recent rise in his stock is because he is a highly cerebral player.  He already thinks the game at a pretty high level, and he has good playmaking and puck handling skills.  He plays an advanced defensive game for such a young player, and his offensive game is, being a playmaker, reliant on his linemates.  He has looked fairly good in the early stages of his first season, with 3 points in just 6 games, coupled with a +1 rating and no penalty minutes.  His only 3 shots on goal so far were all in the same game.  At no point has he looked to be overwhelmed by the speed and strength of his opposition (as T.J. Brodie was last season), and he has been good in the faceoff circle as well (though that part of his game has waned over the past couple games, capped off by a 25% performance last night against the Avs).  So, how good has Horak really been?

He has faced oddly stiff competition for such a young player (he'll turn 21 next May).  In fact, he's been facing tough competition for a player of any sort as, early on, he was getting caught against other teams' top lines (likely home teams taking advantage of the last change).  Because of this, the fact that he's been so thoroughly murdered possession wise (-16.76 on ice Corsi, -15.7 Corsi Rel) isn't surprising, or even discouraging.  So, what do we look at to evaluate him?  Well, the fact that he has a +1 rating with 3 points gives an excellent indication of the way his defensive game is going, given his strong quality of competition and hilariously one-sided shot differential.  Of course, this is all over a small sample size, but given that his competition should eventually start getting better-managed (or that he'll be playing with Stempniak rather than Kostopoulos) I don't foresee any reason to expect him to stop being a useful player.

Roman Horak (falling) lifts the puck over Jean-Sebastian Giguere

Horak celebrates his first goal with (from left) Jarome Iginla,
Jay Bouwmeester, and Mark Giordano

As stated before, Horak potted his first National Hockey League goal last night at home against the Colorado Avalanche.  As if he needed a way to make that moment any more special, there were some pretty good players on the ice, as the assists went to Alex Tanguay and future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla.  The defensemen supporting the play were alternate Captains Jay Bouwmeester and Mark Giordano.  Kiprusoff was, of course, in goal at the other end.  Horak scored the goal against Jean-Sebastian Giguere who, while no star, has been a solid performer, and is a former Conn Smythe Trophy winner.  There were a few quality skaters on the other end, as well, with David Jones, Matt Duchene, Jan Hejda, Chuck Kobasew, and Shane O'Brien guarding Giguere.

Later, early in the 2nd period, Horak drove a shot at the net on a bit of a broken play.  Lee Stempniak picked up the rebound and buried his first of the season, and his first as a Flame.  Apparently Stempy, who is Horak's roommate on the road, has become something of a mentor to the young Czech Center.  No doubt it felt good to help his friend get his first.

Another, rather selfish reason to take pride in Horak's suddenly steep development curve is that it makes that notorious Tim Erixon trade look a lot better.  Having one of the assets work out almost right away softens the blow of losing the team's best prospect.  Now we just have to wait and see on Markus Granlund and Tyler Wotherspoon, the 2 2nd round picks the Flames received in the deal, to truly evaluate the trade.  Really though, Jay Feaster deserves credit for getting the best of a bad situation, and even more for targeting Roman as opposed to some other prospect.

Anyway, let it not be said that the Flames never give youth a chance, and wish Roman Horak lots of luck for the years ahead.