VIDEO: Petr Čech faced NHL stars in hockey goal! He practiced with the Chicago team. I’m living my childhood dream, he enthused

Legendary football goalkeeper Petr Cech has had a fantastic career, but in recent years he has been playing hockey in England. Now, however, he’s had a taste of what it’s like to face the best players on the planet. He has been training with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The 40-year-old soccer legend has been playing hockey for a while now. Petr Cech started out in the fourth league in England, now one of the best goalkeepers of at least his era is defending the colours of the third-league Chelmsford Chieftains.

He played five games for his team with 90.7% success rate. He also trains occasionally with the Guildford Flames, who play in the top English hockey league.

Čech has never made a secret of his love for hockey. Moreover, he has several friends in the hockey environment. One of them is Petr Mrazek, who defends the goal of the Chicago Blackhawks. It was he who arranged for the Czech legend to gain experience in the training sessions of the Illinois organization.

You can judge for yourself how Czech did against NHL stars. Considering his level and how long he has been catching, he has earned praise overseas. He was able to pick off Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Johnson in one-on-one battles.

“You are facing the best players in the world. You have to expect them to have a good shot, be smart and have perfect control. I had to try to fill the gaps in goal and read them, which was harder. But overall I really enjoyed it, it was a priceless experience. I’m living my childhood dream,” the Czech did not hide his excitement in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times.

Czech admitted that skating is a huge challenge for him, especially skating where technique is important. Otherwise, he doesn’t see any major differences between catching in football and hockey. “The pressure on the goalie is the same, it’s just the nature of the game that is different. The important thing is to be in the right place before every shot,” he says.

So he’s glad that Mrazek helps him with his training. He says he often sends him videos in which he gives him advice.

Stars such as Seth Jones and Max Domi have tried to find out from the Czech how to handle the pressure during penalties at World Cup level. Cech then compared some players to famous footballers. For example, he compared Jonathan Toews to Jorginho.

Source: NBC Sports, Chicago Sun Times, Twitter