Václav Prospal
Date of birth | 17th February 1975 |
place of birth | České Budějovice , Czechoslovakia |
Nickname | Vinny |
size | 185 cm |
Weight | 88 kg |
position | Left wing |
number | # 20 |
Shot hand | Left |
Draft | |
NHL Entry Draft |
1993 , 3rd round, 71st position Philadelphia Flyers |
Career stations | |
until 1993 | TJ Motor České Budějovice |
1993-1996 | Hershey Bears |
1996-1997 | Philadelphia Phantoms |
1997-1998 | Philadelphia Flyers |
1998-2001 | Ottawa Senators |
2001 | Florida panthers |
2001-2003 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2003-2004 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
2004-2005 | HC České Budějovice |
2005-2008 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2008 | Philadelphia Flyers |
2008-2009 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2009-2011 | New York Rangers |
2011-2013 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
Václav "Vinny" Prospal (born February 17, 1975 in České Budějovice , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player and current coach , who played 1173 games for the Philadelphia Flyers , Ottawa Senators , Florida during his active career between 1993 and 2013 Panthers , Tampa Bay Lightning , Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League on the left winger position . Prospal celebrated numerous successes with the Czech national team , especially at international level, and won the world championship title in 2000 and 2005. Since 2016 he has been assistant trainer for the national team.
Career
Václav Prospal began his career in his hometown with Motor České Budějovice , where he went through the youth teams and from 1991 played in the junior extra league. In the 1993 NHL Entry Draft he was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers from the National Hockey League in the third round in 71st position and moved to North America that same summer. During his debut season, the striker was mainly used with the Hershey Bears , the Flyers' farm team at the time, in the American Hockey League . The Czech had his first appearance in the NHL in the 1996/97 season . During the playoffs of the same season, he broke his arm during a training session, but was still elected to the AHL's First All-Star Team .
A few months later, Prospal was appointed to the 1998 Winter Olympics , where he was to represent his home country. However, the Czech was not operational because he broke a leg in an NHL game against the Ottawa Senators in a duel with Lance Pitlick . In January 1998, the Flyers gave him together with Pat Falloon and a second-round suffrage in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Alexandre Daigle to the Senators, where he played until the middle of the 2000/01 season.
About the Florida Panthers , to which he had switched in January 2001, he came only six months later to the Tampa Bay Lightning , where he played almost five seasons - with two breaks. In the 2003/04 season Prospal went for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on the ice and during the lockout in the 2004/05 NHL season he returned to the Czech Republic. There the striker played for his home club in the second-rate first division and was top scorer and best assists in the league. He also made it to the extra league with HC České Budějovice . In the first season after the lockout, Prospal achieved personal bests in the Lightning jersey with 25 goals and 55 assists.
Shortly before the end of the trade deadline in the 2007/08 season , Prospal was given to his former team Philadelphia Flyers, who in return sent Alexandre Picard and a second-round vote in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In June 2008 Prospal returned to Florida again. In the 2008/09 season he was in 82 games for the Lightning, scored 19 goals and collected 45 points scorer. On August 17, 2009, the attacker signed a contract as a free agent with the New York Rangers , where he immediately earned a regular place and reached 58 points in 75 games in the 2009/10 season . After the end of the 2010/11 season , the Blueshirts did not extend the expiring contract of the Czech striker, so he was again available as a free agent. On July 22, 2011 he was finally signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets and given a contract for one season. After playing in Columbus until the end of the season , he announced his retirement on January 24, 2014 a few weeks before his 39th birthday.
After Prospal coached junior teams in the Tampa city area between 2014 and 2016 , he was hired by the Czech ice hockey association Český svaz ledního hokeje in 2016 . There he took the post as assistant coach of the men's national team and began working under head coach Josef Jandač .
International
Václav Prospal has participated in all major international championships in the course of his career. His first appearance was at the U18 European Junior Championship in 1993 . In the following two years he took part in the Junior World Championships.
With the Czech national team , he won gold medals at world championships in 2000 and 2005 . In 2005 he scored the decisive goal in a 3-0 win in the final against Canada . Another highlight of his career was winning the bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin . In addition, in 2004 he took part in both the World Cup and the World Cup of Hockey . The Czechs finished in third place.
Achievements and Awards
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International
- 1993 bronze medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
- 2000 gold medal at the world championships
- 2005 gold medal at the world championship
- 2006 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games
Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1991/92 | TJ Motor České Budějovice | U20 extra league | 36 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 12 | |||||||
1992/93 | TJ Motor České Budějovice | U20 extra league | 36 | 26th | 31 | 57 | 24 | |||||||
1993/94 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 55 | 14th | 21st | 35 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
1994/95 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 69 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4th | ||
1995/96 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 68 | 15th | 36 | 51 | 59 | 5 | 2 | 4th | 6th | 2 | ||
1996/97 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 63 | 32 | 63 | 95 | 70 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1996/97 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 18th | 5 | 10 | 15th | 4th | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4th | 4th | ||
1997/98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 41 | 5 | 13 | 18th | 17th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1997/98 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 15th | 1 | 6th | 7th | 4th | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1998/99 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 79 | 10 | 26th | 36 | 58 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1999/00 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 79 | 22nd | 33 | 55 | 40 | 6th | 0 | 4th | 4th | 4th | ||
2000/01 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 40 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2000/01 | Florida panthers | NHL | 34 | 4th | 12 | 16 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2001/02 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 81 | 18th | 37 | 55 | 38 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2002/03 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 80 | 22nd | 57 | 79 | 53 | 11 | 4th | 2 | 6th | 8th | ||
2003/04 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 82 | 19th | 35 | 54 | 54 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2004/05 | HC České Budějovice | 1st League | 39 | 28 | 60 | 88 | 82 | 11 | 11 | 8th | 19th | 24 | ||
2005 | HC České Budějovice | Extraliga qualification | - | - | - | - | - | 5 1 | 4th | 7th | 11 | 8th | ||
2005/06 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 81 | 25th | 55 | 80 | 50 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
2006/07 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 14th | 41 | 55 | 36 | 6th | 1 | 4th | 5 | 4th | ||
2007/08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 62 | 29 | 28 | 57 | 31 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2007/08 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 18th | 4th | 10 | 14th | 6th | 17th | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6th | ||
2008/09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 82 | 19th | 26th | 45 | 52 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2009/10 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 20th | 38 | 58 | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2010/11 | New York Rangers | NHL | 29 | 9 | 14th | 23 | 8th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
2011/12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 82 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 36 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2012/13 | HC Mountfield České Budějovice | Extra league | 19th | 9 | 14th | 23 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2012/13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 48 | 12 | 18th | 30th | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
U20 extra league overall | 72 | 42 | 47 | 89 | 36 | |||||||||
Extraliga overall | 19th | 9 | 14th | 23 | 16 | 5 | 4th | 7th | 11 | 8th | ||||
AHL total | 255 | 74 | 152 | 226 | 203 | 9 | 3 | 4th | 7th | 8th | ||||
NHL overall | 1108 | 255 | 510 | 765 | 581 | 65 | 10 | 25th | 35 | 26th |
International
Represented the Czech Republic at:
( 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
- Václav Prospal at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Václav Prospal at eliteprospects.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ hokejcb.cz, Václav Prospal
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Prospal, Václav |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Prospal, Vaclav |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czech ice hockey player and coach |
DATE OF BIRTH | 17th February 1975 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | České Budějovice , Czechoslovakia |