Ladislav Benýšek

Ladislav Benýšek (born March 25, 1975) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 161 games in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild between 1997 and 2003. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2013, was mainly spent in various European leagues. Internationally Benýšek played for the Czech national team at three World Championships, winning gold in both 1999 and 2000.

Career Benýšek was selected by the Oilers in the 11th round of the 1994 NHL entry draft, 266th overall, after spending the previous season with his hometown HC Olomouc of the Czech league. Following the draft, Benýšek came over to North America, and spent the 1994–95 season with the Cape Breton Oilers, Edmonton's American Hockey League farm team.

Benýšek returned to Europe for the next two seasons, playing for Olomouc and Sparta Praha. Electing to again spend a season in North America, Benýšek played his first NHL hockey in the 1997–98 season, going pointless in two games. Aside from that brief stint, however, Benýšek was again confined to the AHL, where he played for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Despite eventually being claimed in the 1999 NHL Waiver Draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Benýšek would spend the next three seasons back with Sparta Praha.

It was not until the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft, when the newly formed Minnesota Wild selected Benýšek from the Ducks that he got the opportunity to play regular minutes. For the next two seasons, Benýšek was an integral part of the Wild blueline. In his third season with the Wild, Benysek played only 14 games before being assigned to the AHL's Houston Aeros. Following the completion of the season, Benýšek returned to Europe, where he joined HIFK in Finland's SM-liiga and also had a spell in Sweden with Leksands IF. In 2006, Benýšek rejoined Sparta Praha for a third spell which lasted one season before he moved to France's Ligue Magnus for Dragons de Rouen. In 2008, Benýšek moved to Denmark's Oddset Ligaen with TOTEMPO HvIK. He then spent three seasons in Italy before moving to the United Kingdom to play for the Braehead Clan based in Glasgow, Scotland, where he would play just nine games, before retiring.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1992–93 HC Olomouc CSSR 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1993–94 HC Olomouc U20 CZE U20 — — — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 58 2 7 9 54 — — — — — 1995–96 HC Olomouc CZE 33 2 4 6 12 4 0 0 0 8 1996–97 HC Olomouc CZE 15 0 1 1 6 — — — — — 1996–97 Sparata Praha CZE 33 3 5 8 28 5 0 0 0 2 1997–98 Edmonton Oilers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1997–98 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 53 2 14 16 29 9 1 1 2 2 1997–98 Sparta Praha CZE 3 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1998–99 Sparta Praha CZE 49 8 10 18 45 8 0 1 1 2 1999–00 Sparta Praha CZE 51 1 5 6 47 9 0 0 0 4 2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 71 2 5 7 38 — — — — — 2001–02 Minnesota Wild NHL 74 1 7 8 28 — — — — — 2002–03 Minnesota Wild NHL 14 0 0 0 8 — — — — — 2002–03 Houston Aeros AHL 39 0 4 4 23 18 0 3 3 6 2003–04 HIFK FIN 39 2 1 3 14 13 0 0 0 2 2004–05 HIFK FIN 8 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 2004–05 Leksands IF SWE-2 16 1 0 1 30 — — — — — 2005–06 HIFK FIN 6 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Leksands IF SWE 38 1 1 2 42 — — — — — 2006–07 Sparta Praha CZE 41 0 1 1 32 16 1 0 1 6 2007–08 HC Rouen FRA 26 2 14 16 30 9 0 1 1 4 2008–09 Totempo HvIK DEN 39 1 9 10 62 — — — — — 2009–10 HC Fassa ITA 34 2 3 5 24 6 0 0 0 4 2010–11 HC Asiago ITA 27 1 4 5 41 17 1 1 2 4 2011–12 SV Kaltern ITA-2 17 4 2 6 14 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Valpellice ITA 10 1 3 4 2 5 0 0 0 5 2012–13 Braehead Clan EIHL 9 0 0 0 0 — — — — — CSSR/CZE totals 228 14 26 40 174 42 1 1 2 22 NHL totals 161 3 12 15 74 — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Czech Republic WC 9 0 1 1 6 1999 Czech Republic WC 4 0 0 0 0 2000 Czech Republic WC 9 1 0 1 2 Senior totals 22 1 1 2 8