A lot was made over Petr Mrazek’s antics at the WJC, where he drove players on the US bench crazy with his fist-pumping, crowd-surfing celebrations during and after a 52-save performance in a 5-2 Czech win.
The pundits showed little mercy in their assessment of Mrazek, calling him a showboater, but that’s not the soft-spoken, humble Mrazek fans have gotten to know during his three seasons in Ottawa.
Consider the fact that Mrazek wasn’t even invited to last year’s tournament, he was blacklisted because of a dispute over a transfer fee, and he was so upset he actually had a new mask made up that stripped off the Czech flag.
Then consider the Czech team hasn’t won a medal since bronze in 2005, and only three medals in the last 19 years, and they had just schooled the US, due primarily to Mrazek’s stellar performance.
Here’s what Czech assistant coach Jiri Fischer — also Detroit’s director of player development — had to say about the Red Wings’ top goaltending prospect in an interview with Sportsnet.ca:
“He’s (an) extremely passionate guy, I think a lot of people noticed over the last few games. It trickles down all the way through the team, so it’s nice to have that energy on the ice. He’s got a lot of passion so I don’t have a problem with him doing whatever he does when he’s stopping pucks.”
I would tend to agree. Mrazek had just played the biggest game of his life on the biggest possible stage for a 19-year-old, so he can be forgiven for showing a little passion.
The 67′s can only hope he’s caught a bit of that lightning in a bottle so he can translate that into a big playoff performance this year.