Jiří Hrdina

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Czech RepublicCzech Republic  Jiří Hrdina Ice hockey player
Jiří Hrdina
Date of birth 5th January 1958
place of birth Prague , Czechoslovakia
size 183 cm
Weight 88 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1984 , 8th lap, 159th position
Calgary Flames
Career stations
until 1981 Sparta ČKD Prague
1981-1983 HC Dukla Trenčín
1983-1988 Sparta ČKD Prague
1988-1990 Calgary Flames
1990-1992 Pittsburgh Penguins

Jiří Hrdina (born January 5, 1958 in Prague , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player who played for the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League from 1977 to 1992 .

Career

Hrdina comes from the offspring of Auto Škoda Boleslav and began his professional career in 1977 in the highest Czechoslovak league at Sparta ČKD Prague . At first he played as a right winger, but was later retrained as a center forward . During his military service he played for HC Dukla Trenčín for two years , but then returned to Prague. He also played regularly for the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team . He celebrated his greatest success at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo . It was only shortly before the start of the tournament that he moved up to the squad and played in a storm series with Pavel Richter and Vladimír Růžička . This series was instrumental in winning the silver medal. In the same year he had the Calgary Flames in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft selected in the eighth round at the 159th place, even if a transfer of a player from Eastern Europe at that time was still very unlikely. In the mid-1980s he played at Sparta together with David Volek and Jiří Doležal and formed with them one of the most dangerous attack lines in the first division. At the end of the 1986/87 season, Hrdina was named the best striker in the first division.

The 1988 Winter Olympics took him to Calgary and he stayed there. He had just turned 30 years old and so immediately after the Olympic tournament he was cleared to move to the NHL. So he came in the 1987/88 season with the Flames to nine appearances in the regular season and one in the playoffs. He was the first Czech to ever play for the team. At the age of almost 31, he went into his official rookie season according to the rules of the time , in which he was the Flames' most successful newcomer with 22 goals and 23 assists. Much more important was that he and his team won the Stanley Cup in the 1988/89 season . He also helped his compatriot Robert Reichel at the Flames to get used to life in North America and the NHL.

In December 1990 he moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Jim Kyte . Here he was not only very important because of his athletic qualities. With Jaromír Jágr the penguins had a great talent in their ranks and Hrdina took care of his young compatriot in his first two years, especially away from the ice. In terms of sport, things went great with the Penguins. In the 1990/91 season , Mario Lemieux's team won the Stanley Cup for the first time and defended the title in the following season. After the end of the season, Hrdina ended his active career. In the four seasons that he had played entirely in the NHL, he won the Stanley Cup three times. He was the first European to win the Stanley Cup with two different teams.

He later worked as a scout for the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars, among others . For the 100th birthday of Sparta Prague, Jiří Hrdina was elected to the club's all-star team and his jersey with the number 21 was hung under the roof of the hall.

Achievements and Awards

  • 1984 Best assists in the 1st league 1983/84
  • 1987 Best striker in the 1st division 1986/87
  • 1989 Stanley Cup win with the Calgary Flames
  • 1991 Stanley Cup win with the Pittsburgh Penguins
  • 1992 Stanley Cup win with the Pittsburgh Penguins

International

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league GP G A. Pts PIM GP G A. Pts PIM
1977-78 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League (Jun.) 35 6th 8th 14th 20th
1978-79 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 39 7th 8th 15th 18th
1979-80 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 44 7th 7th 14th 24
1980-81 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 42 14th 20th 34 54
1981-82 Dukla Trenčín 1st League 44 11 27 38 36
1982-83 Dukla Trenčín 1. SNHL 36 40 24 64
1983-84 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 44 16 33 49 28
1984-85 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 44 18th 19th 37 30th
1985-86 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 34 26th 19th 45 30th 6th 2 2 4th
1986-87 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 31 18th 18th 36 50 6th 2 5 7th
1987-88 Sparta ČKD Praha 1st League 22nd 7th 15th 22nd 30th
1987-88 Calgary Flames NHL 9 2 5 7th 2 1 0 0 0 0
1988-89 Calgary Flames NHL 70 22nd 32 54 26th 4th 0 0 0 0
1989-90 Calgary Flames NHL 64 12 18th 30th 31 6th 0 1 1 2
1990-91 Calgary Flames NHL 14th 0 3 3 4th - - - - -
1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 37 6th 14th 20th 13 14th 2 2 4th 6th
1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 56 3 13 16 16 21st 0 2 2 16
NHL overall 250 45 85 130 92 46 2 5 7th 24
1st league overall 380 164 190 354 300 12 4th 7th 11

International

Overall, Jiří Hrdina completed 194 games for Czechoslovakia , in which he scored 55 goals.

year team event GP G A. Pts PIM result
1977 Czechoslovakia U20 World Cup bronze Bronze medal
1978 Czechoslovakia U20 World Cup 6th 1 3 4th 0 4th Place
1982 Czechoslovakia WM 9 1 0 1 4th silver Silver medal
1983 Czechoslovakia WM 9 1 0 1 4th silver Silver medal
1984 Czechoslovakia Olympia 7th 4th 6th 10 10 silver Silver medal
1984 Czechoslovakia Canada Cup 5 0 1 1 4th 5th place
1985 Czechoslovakia WM 10 2 2 4th 4th gold gold medal
1986 Czechoslovakia WM 10 7th 5 12 14th 5th place
1987 Czechoslovakia WM 10 3 3 6th 6th bronze Bronze medal
1987 Czechoslovakia Canada Cup 6th 1 2 3 0 4th Place
1988 Czechoslovakia Olympia 8th 2 5 7th 4th 6th place
1990 Czechoslovakia WM 9 1 5 6th 8th bronze Bronze medal

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b hcsparta.cz, Hrdina - chemistry fungovala příliš krátce
  2. hcsparta.cz, HC Sparta - factography
  3. internationalhockeylegends.blogspot.com, Greatest Hockey Legends - Jiri Hrdina
  4. hcsparta.cz, [1]
  5. hokej.hansal.cz, international matches of the 1989/90 season of Czechoslovakia
  6. sportovci.cz, Profile Jiří Hrdina ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sportovci.cz