Petr Svoboda (ice hockey player, 1966)

Petr Svoboda
Date of birth	February 14, 1966
place of birth	Most , Czechoslovakia
size	185 cm
Weight	86 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1984 , 1st lap, 5th position Montréal Canadiens
Career stations
1982-1984	CHZ Litvínov
1984-1992	Montréal Canadiens
1992-1995	Buffalo Sabers
1995-1998	Philadelphia Flyers
1998-2001	Tampa Bay Lightning

Petr Svoboda (born February 14, 1966 in Most , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 2000 for the Montréal Canadiens , Buffalo Sabers , Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning .

Career

As a junior he played for the CHZ Litvínov , where he also began his professional career. After a very good performance at the Junior World Championship, he managed to break away from his aunt, who lived in Munich , during the Junior European Championship in Germany in 1984 . Shortly thereafter, he was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft in the first round as fifth. It was very surprising that he was selected so early and for a long time it was unclear whether he would even be accepted for the draft. He himself was present at the draft in the Montreal Forum .

He immediately moved to North America. After surviving an injury from preparation, he immediately prevailed in his first season in 1984/85 in the NHL. In the second year he was able to win the Stanley Cup . He excelled as a good skater, with a very hard shot and strong puck guidance. One particularly appreciates his ability to concentrate well. So he showed a very consistent performance and made very few careless mistakes. Even in his early years he was plagued by numerous injuries, which repeatedly set him back at short notice.

At the end of the 1991/92 season he moved to the Buffalo Sabers. Here he stayed until shortly before the end of the 1994/95 season when the Philadelphia Flyers signed him in exchange for Garry Galley .

With the Flyers he played in the team around Eric Lindros in one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , he played for the first time in the senior division for the Czech national ice hockey team after his escape . His teammates had to bring his Czech passport with them. He and his team reached the final against the Russian team. The game remained goalless for a long time until Svoboda scored the only goal of the game with a slap shot after a face-off that Pavel Patera had won against Sergei Fyodorov and thus secured the gold medal for his country. However, he never played in a World Cup for his home country.

During the 1998/99 season he moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning . It played there the coming season and was the first Czech to play his thousandth NHL game before a head injury ended his career in December 2000. He was still hoping for a comeback for some time, but in May 2002 he officially announced his resignation.

At the end of May 2020 he became co-owner and sporting director of the Swiss first division club Lausanne HC .

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	17th	1,028	58	341	399	1,605
Playoffs	13	127	4th	45	49	135

Sporting successes

• 1983 bronze medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• 1984 bronze medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1984 silver medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• Ice hockey Olympic champion: 1998
• Stanley Cup : 1986

Personal awards

• Junior European Championship All-Star Team: 1983
• Participation in the NHL All-Star Game : 2000

Web links

• Petr Svoboda at hockeydb.com (English)
• Petr Svoboda at legendsofhockey.net (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Une nouvelle ère pour le Lausanne HC. Retrieved July 8, 2020 (French).