The Raiders are happy to welcome 25 year old Blaho Novak to Romford, for his first season in Gold and Blue. Blaho who hails from Slovakia, qualifies as a British player as a result of his time in UK based Junior Ice Hockey systems.
Blaho made his senior hockey debut in 2009 at Chelmsford, where he scored 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points in 35 games. He moved back to Slovakia and played the next three seasons in the Slovak Under 20 league playing for HC Trnava before two seasons for Slovan Bratislava. He made a total of 156 league and play-off appearances in Slovakia scoring 51 goals and 65 assists for 116 points.
He returned to the UK in 2014 to join Telford Tigers in the EPL, in two seasons making 106 appearances scoring 33 goals and 34 assists for 67 points, winning EPL League and Cup in his second season. In 2016 Blaho played in Norway for Moss scoring 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points in a team that suffered relegation. Last season, Blaho was back in Slovakia playing in Czech Division 2 for HC Topolcany , scoring 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 51 appearances for a team that finished in fourth place in the league and lost in the play-off semi finals.
Blavo Novak is looking forward to new challenges as he explained.
“I always followed UK hockey, so even though i was playing in different league/country I had rough idea on what was happening.
“Through the league restructure I have played against many of this leagues players whilst I was at Telford so I know what to expect. I heard Raiders have a new rink. It’s always good to play in a new arena and from some pictures I have seen it looks perfect to me.“
Of the team he is joining he had this to say:-
“I have played alongside and against several of them from my Chelmsford days but that is a long time ago. Undoubtedly the team is fully loaded with talent, hard work and experience. I’m really looking forward to play for this team.
“Sean is a great coach and he knows how to get the most out of everyone. He is the first person that introduced me to UK hockey, and also i played alongside with him. I feel that this is going to be a great season for Raiders hockey.”
Sean Easton knows well the talent that he is bringing back to the UK
“Blaho is the whole package, plays with a lot of skill, grit and composure. Blaho will be up there with the points but also willing to go and bump bodies as well as take bumps to make a play. Blaho is not a shy player and will, I feel, be a Raiders fan favourite. His game play matches the Raiders traditional identity to a tee.”
