Roman Will

Roman Will
Born (1992-05-22) 22 May 1992
Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Czech team
Former teams		 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
BK Mladá Boleslav
Colorado Avalanche
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present

Roman Will (born 22 May 1992) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He has formerly appeared in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche.

Playing career

As a youth, Will played with BK Mladá Boleslav and later made his professional debut an Czech Extraliga relegation game after the 2010–11 season.[1] 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 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2011–12. As the Wildcats starter, Will appeared in 63 games for 29 wins and was selected to the 2012 QMJHL First All-Star Team.[2]

Undrafted, Will returned to the Czech Republic signing a two-year contract to newly relegated BK Mladá Boleslav of the 1. národní hokejová liga.[3] In the 2012–13 season, Will shared starting duties and appeared in 44 games. Although just a 20-year-old, he led the league with a 1.87 goals against average.

After helping Boleslav gain promotion back to the Extraliga he was re-signed to a one-year contract on 2 May 2014.[4] However, on 15 May 2014, Will's NHL ambition was further realised when he was signed to a two-year entry level contract with the Colorado Avalanche.[5][6]

In his first 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 17 October 2014, against the Chicago Wolves. He later recorded his First career AHL win against the Toronto Marlies on 30 November 2014, before he was assigned to earn more time in the crease with secondary affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. Will shone with the Komets and earned his first accolade as the ECHL's goaltender of the week from 5 January 2015. He recorded 17 wins in 29 games, leading all rookies in goals against average, and played in all 7 post-season games with Fort Wayne to be selected in the ECHL All-Rookie Team.[7]

In the following 2015–16 season, after attending his second Avalanche training camp, Will was assigned to new AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. On 26 January 2015, 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 29 January 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 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga on 10 May 2016.[10]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/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 CZE.1 44 — — — 2477 77 6 1.87 .935 10 — — 630 15 1 1.43 .952
2013–14 BK Mladá Boleslav CZE.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 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 18 1 0 3.25 .667 — — — — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L T 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 [11]

References

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