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Roman Will
Born May 22, 1992,
Plzeň
Height
Weight
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
KHL team
F. teams
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Tipsport Extraliga
BK Mladá Boleslav
Bílí Tygři Liberec
Chance Liga
HC Benátky nad Jizerou
BK Mladá Boleslav
QMJHL
Moncton Wildcats
AHL
Lake Erie Monsters
San Antonio Rampage
ECHL
Fort Wayne Komets
NHL
Colorado Avalanche
SHL
Rögle BK
Ntl. team Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Playing career 2007–present

Roman Will (born on May 22, 1992 in Plzeň) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.

Club career[]

As a youth, Will played with the BK Mladá Boleslav organisation and in the 2010-11 season made his professional debut in a Tipsport Extraliga relegation game with the BK Mladá Boleslav.[1] In the same season, he was also a second goalie in a few games with the HC Benátky nad Jizerou of the 1. Liga. With an ambition to be drafted and play in the NHL, Will was drafted 29th overall by the Moncton Wildcats in the 2011 CHL Import Draft and subsequently moved to North America for a season of major junior hockey with the Wildcats of the QMJHL in 2011–12. As the Wildcats starter, Will appeared in 63 regular season games for 29 wins and also added 4 games in the play-offs and was selected to the 2012 QMJHL First All-Star Team and also was named the CHL Goaltender of the Week on November 13, 2011.[2]

Undrafted, Will returned to the Czech Republic signing a two-year contract to newly relegated BK Mladá Boleslav of the 1. Liga.[3] In the 2012–13 season, Will became the first goalie and appeared in 44 regular season games, 10 play-off games and 5 Tipsport Extraliga qualification games. Although just a 20-year-old, he led the league with a 1.87 goals against average and 33 wins and helped the BK Mladá Boleslav win the 1. Liga but the team did not success in the Tipsport Extraliga qualification and stayed in the 1. Liga for the next season.

After helping BK Mladá Boleslav win the 1. Liga once again and gain promotion back to the Tipsport Extraliga in the 2013-14 season he was re-signed to a one-year contract on May 2, 2014.[4] However, on May 15, 2014, Will's NHL ambition was further realised when he was signed to a two-year entry level contract with the Colorado Avalanche organisation.[5][6]

In his first senior North American season in 2014–15, Will was initially assigned to backup the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. He made his debut with the Monsters on October 17, 2014, against the Chicago Wolves. He later recorded his first career AHL win against the Toronto Marlies on November 30, 2014, before he was assigned to earn more time in the crease with secondary affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. He played 11 games with the Monsters. Will shone with the Komets and earned his first accolade as the ECHL Goaltender of the Week from January 5 to January 11, 2015. He recorded 17 wins in 29 regular season games, leading all rookies in goals against average, and played in all 7 play-off games with Fort Wayne to be selected in the ECHL All-Rookie Team.[7] He was also selected to be the ECHL Goaltender of the Month in April 2015.

In the following 2015–16 season, after attending his second Avalanche training camp, Will was assigned to new AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, and played there 29 games. On January 26, 2016, with the Rampage's starting Goaltender Calvin Pickard already promoted to the NHL, Will was recalled to the Avalanche on an emergency basis in order to backup Pickard due to an unavailability with starter Semyon Varlamov.[8] With Pickard struggling with illness, Will made his NHL debut in relief with the Avalanche that same night, appearing in 18 minutes of ice time and stopping 2 of 3 shots in a 6-1 defeat to the San Jose Sharks.[9] Will was returned to the Rampage following the game on January 29, 2016.

At the completion of his second professional North American season, Will in search of more playing time left the Avalanche organization to return to the Czech Republic in agreeing to an optional two-year deal with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga on May 10, 2016.[10]

Will matured and performed as a standout statistically for three seasons in the Tipsport Extraliga with the Bílí Tygři Liberec. In his first season with the Bílí Tygři Liberec, Will played 30 regular season games and 7 play-off games with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga and also 5 games with their farm club, the HC Benátky nad Jizerou of the WSM Liga (formerly 1. Liga). He led the Tipsport Extraliga in goals against average (1.69), save percentage (.935) and was the goalie with most shutouts (7).

In the 2017 - 2019, Will played only with the Bílí Tygři Liberec playing almost all of their games in the season. In the 2017-18 season, Will was the best goaltender of the Tipsport Extraliga play-offs in the goals against average (1.69) and in the save percentage (.940). In the next season, he was named the Tipsport Extraliga Best Goalie while he led the league in most wins (32) and had the best goals agains average in the play-offs (1.76).

Following the 2018–19 season, Will left the Czech Republic as a free agent and agreed to a two-year contract with Swedish club, the Rögle BK of the SHL, on May 9, 2019.[11] Securing the role as starting goaltender, Will registered an impressive 23 wins from 34 games, helping the Rögle BK finish the regular season in third place, their highest position in franchise history.

On April 15, 2020, Will was released from his contract with the Rögle BK in order to take up a lucrative two-year offer from Russian club, the Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.[12]

International career[]

Will played with the Czech National Team at the 2010 World U18 Championship.

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2011–12 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 63 29 25 7 3592 166 1 2.77 .913 4 0 4 205 19 0 5.56 .843
2012–13 BK Mladá Boleslav Czech.1 44 2477 77 6 1.87 .935 10 630 15 1 1.43 .952
2013–14 BK Mladá Boleslav Czech.1 21 1264 34 6 1.61 .934 10 539 15 2 1.81 .920
2014–15 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 11 2 6 1 576 34 0 3.54 .869
2014–15 Fort Wayne Komets ECHL 29 17 8 4 1745 70 1 2.41 .921 7 4 3 417 19 1 2.74 .914
2015–16 San Antonio Rampage AHL 29 10 13 3 1527 87 0 3.42 .896
2015–16 Colorado Avalanche NHL 1 0 0 0 18 1 0 3.25 .667
2016–17 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 30 17 13 0 1772 50 7 1.69 .935 7 3 4 296 10 2 2.03 .914
2016–17 HC Benátky nad Jizerou Czech.1 5 2 3 0 307 14 1 2.74 .923
2017–18 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 45 23 22 0 2536 99 6 2.34 .913 10 6 4 603 17 1 1.69 .941
2018–19 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 51 32 19 0 2941 111 5 2.26 .916 17 10 7 1083 34 0 1.88 .929
2019–20 Rögle BK SHL 34 23 10 0 1985 70 4 2.12 .922
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 18 1 0 3.25 .667

International[]

Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2010 Czech Republic WJC18 6th 3 1 0 0 123 10 0 4.89 .796
Junior totals 3 1 0 0 123 10 0 4.89 .796

Awards and honours[]

Award Year
QMJHL
First Team All-Star 2011–12 [2]
ECHL
All-Rookie Team 2014–15 [13]

References[]

  1. BK Mlada Boleslav team stats 2010-11. eliteprospects.com (2011-12-02). Retrieved on 2013-02-03.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Roman Will named to QMJHL First All-Star Team. protekgoaltending.com (2012-04-15). Retrieved on 2012-04-17.
  3. Who will play in the preliminary matches? (Czech). BK Mladá Boleslav (2012-07-31). Retrieved on 2012-09-12.
  4. Excellent leaders remain with Boleslav (Czech). BK Mladá Boleslav (2014-05-02). Retrieved on 2014-05-02.
  5. Another Czech goalie heads to NHL! Will signed by Colorado. nova.cz (2014-05-15). Retrieved on 2014-05-15.
  6. Colorado signs five players to entry-level deals. Colorado Avalanche (2014-05-29). Retrieved on 2014-05-29.
  7. Despite playoff loss, K's season a success. Journal Gazette (2015-05-15). Retrieved on 2015-05-15.
  8. Big push on Avalanche agenda. Colorado Avalanche (2015-01-26). Retrieved on 2015-01-26.
  9. Former Komet Roman Will makes NHL debut. WANE (2016-01-26). Retrieved on 2016-01-26.
  10. Goalkeeper Roman Will heading home with the White Tigers (Czech). HC Bílí Tygři Liberec (2016-05-10). Retrieved on 2016-05-10.
  11. Czech national team Goalkeeper to RBK (Swedish). Rögle BK (9 May 2019). Retrieved on 9 May 2019.
  12. Roman Will signs contract with Traktor (Russian). Traktor Chelyabinsk (15 April 2020). Retrieved on 15 April 2020.
  13. ECHL announces 2014-15 All-Rookie Team. ECHL (2015-04-08). Retrieved on 2015-04-08.

External links[]

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