Jakub Voráček is in danger of an early end to his hockey career. He also surprises his former teammates, who remember the Czech full-back as a tough guy who can withstand anything.
Thirty-three-year-old Voracek earlier in the week dismissed the speculation towards the end of his career. At the same time, he stressed that the chance that he will play in the NHL for Columbus this year is “really very small.”
The cause is a concussion Voráček suffered in early November during a European tour in Tampere. Against Colorado, he was hit in the face by a high stick from Dryden Hunt in the third period. He hasn’t played since.
Al Columbus would like to keep the contract, which is $8.25 million under the salary cap and valid for next season, but he can’t promise anything. He admitted that he has already had a series of concussions, which the public did not know about before. “I’ve documented about seven or eight of them. But then there were the smaller ones that you’re not entirely sure about,” he added.
Voráček now also has his fingers crossed by his former Philadelphia teammates, where the Czech striker made the biggest mark in the NHL overseas.
“I wish him that he feels healthy and can lead a normal life, this is where hockey goes,” he told the station NBC Flyers attack James van Riemsdyk.
Voráček’s condition apparently even surprised him. “He was very resilient throughout his career and you could always count on him. He was practically never missing,” he said.
He described the Czech expat, most famous as a brilliant recording artist, as a tough hockey player. “Some show toughness through fights and things directly in the game, but it’s also about being in every practice, playing every game and being summoned. That’s a whole different kind of toughness that maybe gets a little overlooked,” Van mused. . Riemsdyk.
Up until this season, Voracek had only missed 28 regular season games. He has played 1047 of them.
“No matter what happened to him, he played,” said fellow Philadelphia forward Scott Laughton. He compared Voráček to the Austrian all-rounder Michael Raffl. “There was no stopping them. It didn’t matter if they had a sprained ankle or a broken leg. They just played. That gives you an idea of how high their pain threshold is.”
Voráček confirmed at the end of the week that he was doing everything to get back on the ice soon. “Especially when you’re young, you lack judgment,” he described. “All those decisions about how and when I would get back in the game were left to me. And I always thought that if I came back and got involved again, the problems would go away. Most of the time it happened, but not this time .” he referred to the lingering difficulties after his last concussion.
“Sometimes maybe he shouldn’t have played,” said his Philadelphia friend, center Kevin Hayes, of Voráček’s background. “But when he felt good, he just played. He was rarely absent. And you can see it. He has an insane amount of points and games in his stats, he’s a fantastic hockey player.”
Voráček collected 806 points (223 + 583) in 1058 games. He surprises above all with the assist column, where he is behind only Jaromír Jágr and Patrik Eliáš in the historical ranking of the Czechs, to whom he loses only 34 assists. However, if we only count the first assist, only Jágr is ahead of Voráček.
Now the question arises whether the red-haired game director will add more recordings.
“When it came time for the game, Jake always gave it his all,” Philadelphia defender Ivan Provorov recalled of the Czech fullback. “He may not have felt well, but immediately after the ball it was clear that he hates defeat. He played exactly how it should be played.”
“But he’s in a bit of a different situation now because when it comes to your long-term health, you have to try and put your competitiveness on the back burner,” added the full-back.
