Petes covet new import’s skills

Czech Republic winger Erik Cermak signs to play in OHL

Erik Cermak is a player the Peterborough Petes believe will bring a willingness to compete along with a high skill level.

For the second day in a row the Petes announced the singing of one of their CHL Import Draft selections on Thursday.

The Petes inked Cermak, a Czech Republic native, to a standard OHL player contract one day after announcing the signing of English native Liam Kirk.

C ermák is a 17-year-old sixfoot, 152-pound left wing selected 54th overall by the Petes in last month’s import draft.

Petes GM Mike Oke said Cermak is represented by an agent head coach Rob Wilson dealt with often while coaching in Europe.

“The reports we have on him is he’s got good hands, competes and showed a willingness to go into the battle areas,” Oke said.

“He has good size and was over a point-per-game playing for Red Bull. A lot of people we talked to over there consider him to be one of the top Czech players in his age group.”

Cermak, a Prague native, played for EC Red Bull Salzburg U18 Akademie in 2017-18. He recorded eight goals, 16 assists and 24 points in 21 games after missing the early part of the season with a shoulder injury.

In international play, Cermak has tallied 11 points in 12 games for Czech Republic. He will travel to Canada next week with Czech Republic’s Under-18 Team for the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup taking place in Red Deer and Edmonton, Alta. from Aug. 4 to 11.

“I am very excited to be a part of the Peterborough Petes and to get to play in the Ontario Hockey League,” Cermak stated in a Petes press release.

“I can’t wait to put on a Petes jersey and start playing.”

Oke said he and Wilson spoke with Cermak and his father prior to the draft.

“He had a lot of options available to him but we spoke about what it’s like to play in Canada and specifically Peterborough,” Oke said.

“We had a really good discussion prior to the draft and continued to do some research to see if he would be a good fit for us. We think we have a really good group and he’s a player who can grow and continue to develop with that group who are going to be here for the next couple of years.”

Fans will get their first look at Cermak at the Petes 2018 training camp in late August. The Petes will play five exhibition games including two home games on Sept. 2 at 2:05 p.m. against the Oshawa Generals and on Sept. 13 at 7:05 p.m. against Kingston.