Miroslav Dvořák

Miroslav Dvořák (11 October 1951 – 12 June 2008) was a Czechoslovak ice hockey defenseman. He played three seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1982 to 1985. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1969 to 1989, was mainly spent with HC České Budějovice in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League. Internationally Dvořák played for the Czechoslovak national team at several Ice Hockey World Championships, winning gold medals in 1976 and 1977, along with six silver medals, and a silver medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

Playing career In 1967 Dvořák started his ice hockey career playing for the HC České Budějovice junior team and from 1970 became a member of senior team. In the same year Dvořák was named the best defender of the World Junior Championships held in Sweden. During his military service he moved to the army team Dukla Jihlava where he spent two seasons. He also played for Czechoslovak national ice hockey team and won eight medals overall in the Ice Hockey World Championships in years 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982 and 1983 and represented Czechoslovakia on 1976 and 1981 Canada Cups and on 1980 Winter Olympics as well. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round of the 1982 NHL entry draft and played three seasons in North America. He had to wait until his thirties to play in the NHL, as playing overseas under the age of 30 was strictly prohibited because of sports rules during communism era in Czechoslovakia. He left professional ice hockey after the 88–89 season and went back to Czechoslovakia to play for HC České Budějovice.

Death Dvořák died in the Czech Republic after a long battle with throat cancer at the age of 56 on 12 June 2008. His family played composer Antonín Dvořák's "New World Symphony" at the funeral.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1970–71 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 36 4 5 9 2 — — — — — 1971–72 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 20 1 1 2 24 — — — — — 1972–73 ASD Dukla Jihlava CSSR — 4 7 11 — — — — — — 1973–74 ASD Dukla Jihlava CSSR — 14 7 21 — — — — — — 1974–75 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 44 10 9 19 34 — — — — — 1975–76 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 31 9 4 13 18 — — — — — 1976–77 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 43 4 12 16 26 — — — — — 1977–78 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 43 11 17 28 34 — — — — — 1978–79 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 42 3 18 21 14 — — — — — 1979–80 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 44 7 17 24 27 — — — — — 1980–81 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 44 8 25 33 38 — — — — — 1981–82 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 38 7 16 23 24 — — — — — 1982–83 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 4 33 37 20 3 0 1 1 0 1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 66 4 27 31 27 2 0 0 0 2 1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 47 3 14 17 4 13 0 1 1 4 1985–86 ESG Kassel GER-2 45 13 48 61 36 17 8 23 31 30 1986–87 ESG Kassel GER-2 34 4 40 44 32 18 4 14 18 12 1987–88 EHC Essen-West GER-2 36 10 36 46 16 — — — — — 1988–89 TJ Motor České Budějovice CSSR 27 0 7 7 4 12 0 3 3 12 CSSR totals 412 82 145 227 255 12 0 3 3 12 NHL totals 193 11 74 85 51 18 0 2 2 6

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1970 Czechoslovakia EJC 5 1 0 1 4 1974 Czechoslovakia WC 4 0 3 3 4 1975 Czechoslovakia WC 10 2 4 6 2 1976 Czechoslovakia OLY 6 1 4 5 2 1976 Czechoslovakia WC 7 0 0 0 4 1976 Czechoslovakia CC 7 0 1 1 4 1977 Czechoslovakia WC 9 0 1 1 8 1978 Czechoslovakia WC 10 0 2 2 4 1979 Czechoslovakia WC 8 0 0 0 0 1980 Czechoslovakia OLY 5 0 1 1 0 1981 Czechoslovakia WC 8 1 2 3 4 1981 Czechoslovakia CC 6 0 3 3 2 1982 Czechoslovakia WC 10 0 5 5 4 1983 Czechoslovakia WC 10 0 3 3 14 Senior totals 110 4 29 33 52