Pavel Trnka

Pavel Trnka
Date of birth	July 27, 1976
place of birth	Plzeň , Czechoslovakia
size	188 cm
Weight	91 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1994 , 5th round, 106th position Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Career stations
until 1994	HC Plzeň
1994-1995	HC Kladno
1995-1997	Baltimore Bandits
1997-2003	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
2003-2004	Florida panthers
2004-2006	HC Plzeň
2006	Leksands IF
2006-2007	HC Plzeň Malmö Redhawks
2007–2012	HC Vítkovice Steel

Pavel Trnka (born July 27, 1976 in Plzeň , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player who last played for HC Vítkovice Steel in the Czech extra league. Between 1997 and 2004 he was active for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League .

Career

Pavel Trnka began his career in his homeland in Czechoslovakia with HC Plzeň . The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was selected in the fifth round in 106th position by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim .

From 1995 to 1997 he gained his first experience in North American ice hockey on the farm team of the Ducks, the Baltimore Bandits . He was called up to the Mighty Ducks team in 1997 and immediately earned himself a regular place with the Southern Californians as a solid defender. He played with the Ducks until 2004 before he was transferred to the Florida Panthers for Sandis Ozoliņš and Lance Ward . With the Panthers, he completed 89 games in the NHL in almost two years and posted 19 points.

He left the NHL after the 2003/04 season and returned to the Czech Republic. There he signed with HC Plzeň , which he had been a member of from 1993 to 1995. In 2007 he moved to HC Vítkovice Steel . In between he made two short trips to Sweden to Leksands IF and the Malmö Redhawks . In March 2012 the Czech declared his active career over.

International

For his home country Trnka was on the ice at the U18 Junior European Championship in 1994 , the Junior World Championship in 1995 and the World Championship in 2003 . At the U-20 World Cup in 2014 , Trnka was the assistant coach of the Czech junior team , which finished sixth.

Achievements and Awards

• 1994 bronze medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• 2011 Czech runner-up with HC Vítkovice Steel

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	7th	411	14th	63	77	323
Playoffs	1	4th	0	1	1	2

Web links

• Pavel Trnka at hockeydb.com (English)
• Pavel Trnka at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Pavel Trnka at eurohockey.com