Penguins sign Radim Zohorna to a one-year, two-way contract

[Honour Over Glory]

He's definitely a useful player, if he can translate that to the smaller US ice and the faster NHL game. That's usually what seems to trip up players from the Extraliga here- they lose that extra half-second.

The only shitty thing is this year a lot of blokes are playing over seas instead of Wbs where we could have seen them vs the competition in that league.

But the bloke does have 5pts in 4 games so..far

 

[HandshakeLine]

I would caution against that too much. Most of Zohorna's 5 points came in a drubbing of Madeta České Budějovice who is simply awful this year.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It's tough not to be intrigued by a guy who stands at like 6'9" (nice) on skates and who can actually move and use his hands a bit.

 

[HandshakeLine]

It's tough not to be intrigued by a guy who stands at like 6'9" (nice) on skates and who can actually move and use his hands a bit.

It's also hilarious looking at Boleslav's roster because he's got like 35 lbs on every other skater there. Radim's a big boy.

It's like watching Chara when he was on Trenčín or Sparta.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I would caution against that too much. Most of Zohorna's 5 points came in a drubbing of Madeta České Budějovice who is simply awful this year.

You promised me 6'6" McCann and now I'll accept nothing less.

 

[HandshakeLine]

You promised me 6'6" McCann and now I'll accept nothing less.

You laugh, but mark my words, some angry poster will dig up my post and try to throw it in my face in a few months!

 

[HandshakeLine]

It's tough not to be intrigued by a guy who stands at like 6'9" (nice) on skates and who can actually move and use his hands a bit.

I hope that he manages to find a place here because he's got some really intriguing potential. But I'm pretty sure he'll get a year, be stuck in WB/S, and then get a better offer back in the Extraliga or go to the KHL with his older brother.

 

[wej20]

Would some time in WBS benefit him to adjust to the smaller ice?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Would some time in WBS benefit him to adjust to the smaller ice?

Definitely! But the problem is, being stuck in the AHL isn't going to be as attractive (or financially lucrative) to some degree as a deal to play with his brothers in the Extraliga or KHL. I think if you can make it clear that if he can adjust he'll get a call up, he'd stick around. Or, if he just happens to fall in love with playing in NA (a lot of Czechs have really weird ideas about what life in NA is like and are invariably disappointed when they get there ), and figures it's worth the investment to stick it out and see if he can get an NHL contract.

But I don't think the team is going to be patient like that.

It's the same thing that befalls a lot of international transfers. (And to make it worse, the Extraliga season has already started here, so we're essentially asking a guy to get pulled out midseason for camp and then adjust to the NHL/AHL on the fly without giving him time to acclimate, get situated, etc.)

Frankly, I have my doubts that he'll even make it over because of the NHL's dumb insistence on carrying on an asterisk season.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Or to put it another way, dude has tons of potential, he's fairly young, he's huge. But because of reasons beyond his control, I don't think he's even going to touch NA ice.

 

[wej20]

Or to put it another way, dude has tons of potential, he's fairly young, he's huge. But because of reasons beyond his control, I don't think he's even going to touch NA ice.

Would love him to do what Dominik Simon did but as you say he's probably got way more options.

 

[HandshakeLine]

The only shitty thing is this year a lot of blokes are playing over seas instead of Wbs where we could have seen them vs the competition in that league.

But the bloke does have 5pts in 4 games so..far

He had 3 of them in one absolute dismantling of one of the worst teams in the league, tho.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Zohorna fan. I just don't think the team's going to give him a fair shot for reasons both under and beyond their control.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Would love him to do what Dominik Simon did but as you say he's probably got way more options.

I don't think he's necessarily got more options. I think he's actually got less options because of the dumb schedule and the uncertainty of a one-year deal. If it was 2 years, and he had time to come to camp at least next year, that'd be great. But better players have struggled mightily to adjust to the NHL and they were given way more time to train with their teams, to get situated, to try to smooth over any linguistic or cultural barriers.

Frankly, (again, I hate to be a cynic here but let's be realistic) I'd put smart money against him playing more than 10 games for the Pens, and it's not because of his talent or physical skills.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

(a lot of Czechs have really weird ideas about what life in NA is like and are invariably disappointed when they get there )

Do tell, please.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Do tell, please.

Oh man. Lots of different things-- not being able to drink outside is a big complaint. Americans driving drunk. People not having 5 weeks of vacation a year. Health care costs. Food portion sizes (much too big!). Beer sizes! (Much too small!) Not enough nature/hiking near the big cities, having to drive too much. Cops being jerks. People being too invasive into their personal space. The list goes on and on.

Basically, a lot of Czech ideas about America were formed through t.v. shows in the 90s/early 2000s, so they get kinda sad when America isn't like that.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I actually had a colleague once ask me why I had such a funny Australian accent (read: Pittsburghese) because she thought everyone in America either spoke like a) a Californian on 90210, b) a southerner in O Brother Where Art Thou or c) a New Yorker like in Taxi Driver.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

He had 3 of them in one absolute dismantling of one of the worst teams in the league, tho.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Zohorna fan. I just don't think the team's going to give him a fair shot for reasons both under and beyond their control.

I don't like the lack of your Zahorna-ness.


And I agree. This coach won't give him the fair shot we'd want.

 

[OnMyOwn]

Oh man. Lots of different things-- not being able to drink outside is a big complaint. Americans driving drunk. People not having 5 weeks of vacation a year. Health care costs. Food portion sizes (much too big!). Beer sizes! (Much too small!) Not enough nature/hiking near the big cities, having to drive too much. Cops being jerks. People being too invasive into their personal space. The list goes on and on.

Basically, a lot of Czech ideas about America were formed through t.v. shows in the 90s/early 2000s, so they get kinda sad when America isn't like that.

I mean that’s not everywhere. I’m guessing they just want to be near big cities. Almost everyone is a jerk in a big city.

Oh and I earn 4.8 weeks of vacation a year, so suck it! Haha.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I mean that’s not everywhere. I’m guessing they just want to be near big cities. Almost everyone is a jerk in a big city.

Oh and I earn 4.8 weeks of vacation a year, so suck it! Haha.

It's slightly different, I think, because there's so much American pop culture here, and so many Czechs grow up with a media version America somewhere in their minds, that it's really jarring when you go there for real. Similarly with the Japanese and Paris who think everything is going to look like the Louvre or a Japanese romantic comedy set in Paris, or Americans who go to Japan to teach English because they're anime fans.

Nothing against going there. It's just a common enough thing that I hear it a lot from students and others here. Like my physio is Czech, but lived in Seattle for 10 years before moving back here to start her own practice, and she's very glad to be home as much as she loved Seattle.

It takes a special sort of mindset, I guess, to be an expat and not everyone (regardless of their origins) can handle that.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Pens just gonna use him to help convince Jaromir to come over for his number retirement ceremony.

Zohorna just met with Jagr, there were recent reports Radim felt like he was dying alive with the lack of development from the Pens and wishes to be released/traded.