Zdeněk Nedvěd

Zdeněk Nedvěd
Born (1975-03-03) March 3, 1975 (age 49)
Lány, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL draft 123rd overall, 1993
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1995–2011

Zdeněk Nedvěd (born March 3, 1975) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who played 31 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Career

Nedved never became a regular in the league. He was a fine puck handler with a good wrist shot but he was unable to fight through the close checking of the NHL with regularity. Nedved was a teenage star with Poldi Kladno. His family sent him to North America to play junior and develop his game more completely. Nedved became a fine scorer with the OHL's Sudbury Wolves and was chosen 123rd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993. He scored 97 goals in his last two years of junior and represented the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championships in 1994 and 1995. During the 1994 tourney played in his homeland, Nedved was among the top scorers while wreaking havoc in the offensive zone with David Výborný.

Nedved played one game for Toronto late in 1994-95 then prepared for the upcoming training camp. He made the 1995-96 edition of the Leafs and scored a goal early in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nedved's play tailed off over the next month and he was sent down to the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. Eventually, his season was ruined by a serious shoulder injury suffered in a mishap during practice. The next year Nedved played 23 games for Toronto but was unable to perform consistently. Nedved played for St. John's then the IHL's Long Beach Ice Dogs before leaving North America in 1998.

He moved back to his homeland where he played for HC Sparta Praha in 1998-1999. He then moved to Finland's SM-liiga and spent 4 seasons with Lukko Rauma. He then spent two seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany with the Kassel Huskies and the Hannover Scorpions before returning to Finland with Kärpät ahead of the 2004–05 seasons. His stay in Finland was short however, and after only four games, Nedved moved to Norway to play the remainder of the season for the Stavanger Oilers.[1]

Nedved then spent two seasons with Anyang Halla in Asia. He moved back to the Czech Extraliga at the age of 32 to play for HC Kladno in 2007.[2] In 2010, he was playing in Slovakia for HKm Zvolen.[3]

Personal life

Nedvěd is the son of long-time HC Kladno hockey player Zdeněk Nedvěd, who won four Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League titles with the club in the 1970s. His brother, Roman Nedvěd, also played for Kladno between 1986 and 1991.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Rytiri Kladno U20 Czech U20 19 15 12 27 22 — — — — —
1992–93 Sudbury Wolves OHL 19 3 9 12 6 — — — — —
1993–94 Sudbury Wolves OHL 60 50 50 100 42 10 7 8 15 10
1994–95 Sudbury Wolves OHL 59 47 51 98 36 18 12 16 28 16
1994–95 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7 1 1 2 6 — — — — —
1995–96 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 41 13 14 27 22 4 2 0 2 0
1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 23 3 5 8 6 — — — — —
1996–97 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 51 9 25 34 34 7 2 2 4 6
1997–98 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 45 7 8 15 24 3 1 0 1 2
1997–98 Long Beach Ice Dogs IHL 19 3 8 11 18 — — — — —
1998–99 HC Sparta Praha Czech 10 0 2 2 8 — — — — —
1998–99 Lukko Liiga 30 4 7 11 22 — — — — —
1999–00 Lukko Liiga 54 28 18 46 50 4 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Lukko Liiga 51 17 14 31 36 1 0 0 0 0
2001–02 HPK Liiga 55 18 15 33 38 8 4 3 7 0
2002–03 Kassel Huskies DEL 48 16 10 26 26 7 1 1 2 4
2003–04 Hannover Scorpions DEL 51 12 17 29 28 5 2 1 3 2
2004–05 Kärpät Liiga 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2004–05 Stavanger Oilers Norway 26 14 6 20 28 3 1 1 2 0
2005–06 Anyang Halla Asia 38 26 23 49 18 4 1 2 3 0
2006–07 Anyang Halla Asia 28 16 20 36 36 3 2 2 4 20
2007–08 HC Kladno Czech 29 4 4 8 28 9 0 2 2 4
2008–09 HC Kladno Czech 14 1 3 4 4 — — — — —
2009–10 HK Lev Slany Czech4 2 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2009–10 HC Banska Bystrica Slovak 15 4 5 9 6 — — — — —
2009–10 HKM Zvolen Slovak 21 6 5 11 10 5 2 1 3 0
2010–11 IHC Pisek Czech2 12 3 5 8 6 — — — — —
2010–11 HK Lev Slany Czech4 5 2 3 5 6 — — — — —
2010–11 HC Merano Italy2 14 6 9 15 14 — — — — —
NHL totals 31 4 6 10 14 — — — — —
AHL totals 137 29 47 76 80 14 5 2 7 8

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1994 Czech Republic WJC20 5th 7 4 3 7 10
1995 Czech Republic WJC20 6th 7 4 4 8 10
Junior totals 14 8 7 15 20

References

  1. ^ "Zdenek Nedved". Stavanger Oilers (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
  2. ^ "Hokejový útočník Zdeněk Nedvěd se vrací do Kladna". sport.cz (in Czech). 29 May 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Masaryk Zdeněk Nedvěd oslavil pětašedesátiny". denik.cz (in Czech). 19 February 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2014.