• zd0t@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I admire how committed he still is to sport, willing to move from Oxford to Belfast even with the career he’s had in Football

    • middlequeue@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I remember ages ago him saying he wanted to play more hockey as a child but his parents couldn’t afford it.

    • juhinaattori@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Pretty sure he has always been very serious about hockey, most likely would’ve gone pro if not for his football career

  • GravyBoatWarrior@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Cech always wanted to play ice hockey, but his parents couldn’t afford the kit costs.

    Goalkeeper kit in ice hockey will set you back a tidy sum if you want to personally own it, and you obviously have to buy larger sizes as you grow

    • 100th_meridian@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I remember seeing an interview with Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa (Slovak hockey stars) where they described growing up during the pre-post communist schism/independence. Basically during communism when they were children, despite the relative lack of wealth the government still subsidized sport for political reasons. So even though they grew up poor they (and their peers) always had access to ice time, gear paid for, coaching, you name it. Then in the mid-90s when Slovakia and Czech Republic split both countries were super poor for a while (like Poland at the time) so an entire generation of young players that came after them didn’t have shit or could afford it anymore.

      In the late 1990s-mid 2000s Slovakia was a legitimate top 6 country in the world in hockey. Then they dipped to like, 10th where countries like Germany were starting to pass them. It’s now reversed a bit and Slovakia has a really good young generation, but the ~1985-2000 generation were basically the “lost” generation there.

      So after babbling for a bit, I’m guessing Petr Cech may have went through something similar in the 1990s when he was growing up in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic.

      • Xerxes_Generous@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Oh yea, that makes sense. I remember they used to have great players like Peter Boundra, Zigmund Palffy, Satan…and then followed by Chara, Hossa, and Gaborik.

  • lovestobeawkward@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I saw him play last year against Streatham, I am not sure it’s translated that well to Ice Hockey I think he let in about 8 goals!

  • One_Sauce@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Oh fuck I live in Oxford and meant to go see a Stars game with Cech playing. Hope I haven’t missed the chance.

    • GarethGore@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      sheffield is a bit far, but coventry are in the same league, I live in northamptonshire and go there to watch the giants play. MK may get promoted potentially but dropped out of the league, but I went there too, so I’d like them to get promoted again just so I can watch giants play in more than one place

      • JAYZ303@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        There isn’t promotion and relegation in the EIHL. It’s a franchise league.

  • jbi1000@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Think Cech is severely underrated and left out when it comes to all time goalkeeper lists(in football lol).

    I think pre-helmet Cech at Chelsea was arguably the best stretch of goal-keeping the world has ever seen. Even post helmet he pulled out games like the CL final against Bayern at Bayern where he was an absolute colossus between the sticks.

    Is is just because Chelsea of that period is so hated that he doesn’t seem to get his due?

    • DeapVally@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      His near post was basically a wide open door at Arsenal, and he was atrocious at penalties. His reflexes were pretty poor, so it genuinely boggles my mind he would be employed as an ice hockey goalie!? His ass ain’t no fine wine, and those reflexes won’t have improved.

      • jbi1000@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        he was atrocious at penalties.

        For one thing who judges a GK on pens anyway? For another, Cech is literally famous for being great at penalties.

        Go re-watch that CL final I talked about. He saves one in normal time and a couple in the shootout, as well as diving the right way every. single. time.

    • Oggie243@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      A disproportionate amount of the praise for that Chelsea team goes to Terry. Even though he wasn’t even the best defender on that team.