Jiří Šlégr

Jiří Šlégr (; born 30 May 1971) is a Czech professional ice hockey executive and player who is the general manager of the Czech men's national team. Playing as a defenceman, he was a member of the 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings that won the 2002 Stanley Cup after he was acquired in a late-season trade. Šlégr was inducted into the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame on 12 December 2019.

In 2010, Šlégr, a candidate of the Czech Social Democratic Party, was elected into the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

Playing career Šlégr was drafted 23rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1990 NHL entry draft. Šlégr played parts of three seasons with the Canucks, before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Roman Oksiuta, where he played for parts of two seasons. He spent the 1996–97 season playing in Södertälje SK in Sweden. He then returned to the NHL, where he had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third-round draft pick, and played three and a half seasons there, wearing number 71 that would later be more associated with Evgeni Malkin. In January 2001, he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for a third-round draft pick. Atlanta traded Šlégr to the Detroit Red Wings for Yuri Butsayev and a third-round draft pick in March 2002 and won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings that season.

He signed as a free agent with Vancouver in September 2003, but was traded to the Boston Bruins in January 2004 for a conditional pick after falling out of favor with Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford. Šlégr spent the 2004–05 NHL lockout season with HC Litvínov in the Czech Republic before returning to the Boston Bruins for the 2005–06 season. After leaving the NHL, Šlégr returned to the Czech Republic to play for HC Litvínov, and for EHC Biel of the NLA during the 2007 playoffs.

International play

Šlégr won a gold medal in the 2005 World Championships and the 1998 Winter Olympics with the Czech Republic, and a bronze medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics as member of Czechoslovakia. Along with the Stanley Cup he won with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, Šlégr won all three major trophies in ice hockey, gaining entry to the Triple Gold Club.

Political career In the 2010 elections, Šlégr was elected into the Chamber of Deputies as a candidate of the Czech Social Democratic Party in the Ústecký kraj, a region in northern Bohemia. Although the Social Democrats won the elections, they found themselves isolated and a right-wing government led by Petr Nečas was formed instead, forcing the Social Democratic Chairman, Jiří Paroubek, to resign. Šlégr, loyal to Paroubek, followed the former chairman in 2011 when he left the Social Democrats and founded a new party, the National Socialists – 21st Century Left. Since he had refused to resign, Šlégr remained in the Parliament as an unaffiliated MP.

Šlégr announced on June 14, 2013 that he was "going back to the clean environment among athletes" and stepped down from his position.

Return to hockey

At 42 years of age, Šlégr returned to play two more seasons for Litvínov, finally retiring for good as a player in 2015. In his last season, he also served as the team's assistant coach, which began a transition into an off-ice career. He would serve as Litvínov's head coach, general manager and club president before leaving in 2020.

On 10 October 2024, Šlégr was named the new general manager of the Czech men's national team. He replaced former teammate Petr Nedvěd, who had resigned due to family reasons.

Personal life He is the estranged son of former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Jiří Bubla. He legally changed his surname from Bubla to his stepfather's surname Šlégr as a child.

Šlégr was married for 15 years to Kateřina Šlégrová. The couple split in November 2010 and divorced in February 2013. Šlégr married Lucie Králová in May 2015.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1985–86 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR U16 36 3 13 16 12 — — — — — 1986–87 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR U16 36 18 27 45 38 — — — — — 1987–88 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR U18 — — — — — — — — — — 1987–88 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR 4 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1988–89 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR U18 — — — — — — — — — — 1988–89 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR 8 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1989–90 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR U18 — — — — — — — — — — 1989–90 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSR 51 4 15 19 — — — — — — 1990–91 HC CHZ Litvínov CSR 47 11 36 47 26 — — — — — 1991–92 HC Chemopetrol Litvínov CSR 42 9 23 32 46 — — — — — 1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 4 22 26 109 5 0 3 3 4 1992–93 Hamilton Canucks AHL 21 4 14 18 42 — — — — — 1993–94 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 5 33 38 86 — — — — — 1994–95 HC Litvínov, s.r.o. ELH 13 3 10 13 0 — — — — — 1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 19 1 5 6 32 — — — — — 1994–95 Edmonton Oilers NHL 12 1 5 6 14 — — — — — 1995–96 Edmonton Oilers NHL 57 4 13 17 74 — — — — — 1995–96 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 4 1 2 3 4 — — — — — 1996–97 Södertälje SK SHL 30 4 14 18 62 10 4 2 6 32 1996–97 HC Chemopetrol, a.s. ELH 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1996–97 HC Becherovka Karlovy Vary CZE II 5 1 3 4 — — — — — — 1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 5 12 17 109 6 0 4 4 2 1998–99 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 63 3 20 23 86 13 1 3 4 12 1999–2000 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 11 20 31 82 10 2 3 5 19 2000–01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 42 5 10 15 60 — — — — — 2000–01 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 33 3 16 19 36 — — — — — 2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 38 3 5 8 51 — — — — — 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings NHL 8 0 1 1 8 1 0 0 0 2 2002–03 HC Chemopetrol, a.s. ELH 10 2 3 5 14 — — — — — 2002–03 Avangard Omsk RSL 6 1 2 3 8 9 0 3 3 45 2003–04 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 2 5 7 8 — — — — — 2003–04 Boston Bruins NHL 36 4 15 19 27 7 1 1 2 0 2004–05 HC Chemopetrol, a.s. ELH 46 6 23 29 135 6 1 2 3 30 2005–06 Boston Bruins NHL 32 5 11 16 56 — — — — — 2006–07 HC Chemopetrol, a.s. ELH 41 8 8 16 134 — — — — — 2006–07 EHC Biel NLA — — — — — 2 2 2 4 8 2007–08 HC Litvínov ELH 45 7 6 13 121 5 1 1 2 22 2008–09 HC Litvínov ELH 48 5 26 31 98 3 0 0 0 4 2009–10 HC BENZINA Litvínov ELH 11 2 0 2 39 1 0 0 0 4 2013–14 HC Verva Litvínov ELH 28 2 6 8 52 — — — — — 2014–15 HC Verva Litvínov ELH 17 4 1 5 26 — — — — — TCH totals 152 25 75 100 76 — — — — — NHL totals 622 56 193 249 838 42 4 14 18 39 ELH totals 246 36 79 115 671 20 2 6 8 66

International Year Team Event Place GP G A Pts PIM 1989 Czechoslovakia EJC 6 3 1 4 4 1990 Czechoslovakia WJC 7 3 4 7 18 1991 Czechoslovakia WJC 7 0 9 9 14 1991 Czechoslovakia WC 6th 9 2 1 3 32 1991 Czechoslovakia CC 6th 5 0 1 1 25 1992 Czechoslovakia OLY 8 1 1 2 14 1996 Czech Republic WCH 8th 3 0 0 0 6 1997 Czech Republic WC 8 1 1 2 35 1998 Czech Republic OLY 6 1 0 1 8 1998 Czech Republic WC 6 0 1 1 20 2004 Czech Republic WCH 3 1 0 1 2 2004 Czech Republic WC 5th 7 0 2 2 10 2005 Czech Republic WC 9 0 0 0 6 Junior totals 20 6 5 11 36 Senior totals 64 6 7 13 158