Petr Svoboda
Petr Svoboda (born February 14, 1966) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He was the first Czech to play over 1,000 games in the NHL.
| Petr Svoboda | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
February 14, 1966 Most, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
CHZ Litvínov Montreal Canadiens Buffalo Sabres Philadelphia Flyers Tampa Bay Lightning | ||
| National team |
 Czech Republic | ||
| NHL Draft |
5th overall, 1984 Montreal Canadiens | ||
| Playing career | 1982–2001 | ||
He is currently the director of hockey operations for Lausanne HC.
Playing career
In 1984, Svoboda had participated in the world Under-18 ice hockey championships in then-West Germany as a part of the Czechoslovak team, and after playing one game, he defected to the West in order to play hockey at a higher professional level. That spring, he was selected fifth overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. His career highlights include winning the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986, and participating with the Czech team in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where he scored the only goal in the gold medal game against Russia. He retired from professional hockey in 2001 and then worked as a player agent. In May 2020, he became co-owner and director of hockey operations for Lausanne HC in Switzerland.[1]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1982–83 | TJ CHZ Litvínov | TCH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | TJ CHZ Litvínov | TCH | 18 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 73 | 4 | 27 | 31 | 65 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 1985–86 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 73 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 93 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 1986–87 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 63 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 1987–88 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 149 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | ||
| 1988–89 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 71 | 8 | 37 | 45 | 147 | 21 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 16 | ||
| 1989–90 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 60 | 5 | 31 | 36 | 98 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1990–91 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 60 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 52 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1991–92 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 58 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 52 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1992–93 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 40 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 60 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 89 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1994–95 | HC Litvínov, s.r.o. | ELH | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 26 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 1995–96 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 73 | 1 | 28 | 29 | 105 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 22 | ||
| 1996–97 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 67 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 94 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16 | ||
| 1997–98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 56 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 83 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1998–99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 25 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 34 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 70 | 2 | 23 | 25 | 170 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1028 | 58 | 341 | 399 | 1605 | 127 | 4 | 45 | 49 | 135 | ||||
International
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Ice hockey | ||
.svg.png.webp){kind=icon} | 1998 Nagano | Ice hockey |
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Czechoslovakia | EJC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 1984 | Czechoslovakia | WJC | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 | |
| 1984 | Czechoslovakia | EJC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | |
| 1998 | Czech Republic | OG | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 39 | |
| Junior totals | 17 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 40 | |||
| Senior totals | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 39 | |||
See also
- List of NHL players with 1000 games played
References
- "Une nouvelle ère pour le Lausanne HC". www.laliberte.ch (in French). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Preceded by Alfie Turcotte |
Montreal Canadiens' first round draft pick 1984 |
Succeeded by Shayne Corson |
Authority control  |
|
|---|