Petr Nedvěd

Petr Nedvěd (born December 9, 1971) is a Czech-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1990 and 2007.

Early career Nedvěd was born in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to Jaroslav and Soňa ("Sonia") Nedvěd. On January 2, 1989, he fled the Czechoslovak Communist regime and defected as a political refugee at the age of 17 after playing in an international midget tournament in Calgary. At the tournament, Nedvěd scored 17 goals and nine assists.

Playing career After his defection, Nedvěd played one season for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League and was drafted second overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1990 NHL entry draft after scoring 145 points in 71 games. In 1992–93, he finished with 38 goals and 71 points, including a club record 15-game point-scoring streak. Prior to the 1993–94 season, Nedvěd became involved in a contract dispute with the Canucks, which resulted in a holdout. While holding out, Nedvěd obtained his Canadian citizenship and represented Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal. His situation was resolved just before the NHL trade deadline, when he was signed by the St. Louis Blues, with Craig Janney ultimately awarded to the Canucks as compensation (and then dealt back to the Blues shortly after for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican and Nathan LaFayette). Nedvěd scored 20 points in 19 games, but the Blues were swept in the first round of the playoffs while the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Nedvěd's was dealt to the New York Rangers for the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season. He finished the year with 23 points in 46 games. For the 1995–96 season, Nedvěd was traded again, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In Pittsburgh, Nedvěd would have the best years of his career on an offensive team featuring Mario Lemieux, Jaromír Jágr, and Ron Francis. In his first year in Pittsburgh, he recorded career highs of 45 goals and 99 points, and scored 20 points as the Penguins reached the conference finals. Included in that was a goal against the Washington Capitals in quadruple overtime, which at 79:15 of overtime was at the time the longest NHL game in 60 years. During the 1996–97 season, he finished with 33 goals and 71 points.

Nedvěd missed the entire 1997–98 season due to another contract dispute and spent most of the year with lower-level teams in the Czech Republic. He remained unsigned at the start of the 1998–99 campaign, instead suiting up with the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL. The situation ended two months into the season when he was dealt back to the New York Rangers in a deal involving Alexei Kovalev.

His holdout was ultimately disastrous for his career as he ended up with less money (once the millions of dollars he gave up by missing a season were factored in) than Pittsburgh's initial offer in 1997, while at the same time missing an extended portion of his career's prime years, which severely damaged his reputation around the league.

Nedvěd's second stint in New York would be more successful than the first, and the six seasons he spent with the Rangers represented the most stable portion of his career. Although the team missed the playoffs every year, Nedvěd led the Rangers in scoring twice and finished second on another occasion. In 2000–01, playing with Jan Hlaváč and Radek Dvořák – a trio dubbed the 'Czech Mates' – he had the second-best season of his career, finishing with 32 goals and 78 points. After the 2003–04 season, Nedvěd was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline. Although Edmonton failed to make the playoffs, Nedvěd scored 15 points in 16 games.

Nedvěd signed with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2004 and spent the 2004–05 NHL lockout with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. Returning to NHL action in 2005–06 with the Coyotes, he scored just two goals and 11 points in 25 games. He was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he scored a further 14 points in 28 games and returned to the NHL playoffs for the first time since 1997.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Nedvěd was placed on waivers on October 18 following a 9–1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, and was assigned to the American Hockey League (AHL) for the first time in his career. After bouncing between the NHL and AHL for the next two months, Nedvěd was claimed on re-entry waivers by the Edmonton Oilers. In Edmonton, he finished the season with just two goals and 12 points in 40 games between Edmonton and Philadelphia.

On July 19, 2007, Nedvěd signed a one-year contract to return to HC Sparta Praha. On July 31, 2008, Nedvěd, attempting to make an NHL comeback, was invited to the New York Rangers training camp on a tryout basis. He was released by the Rangers on September 26 and returned to the Extraliga, this time with his hometown HC Bílí Tygři Liberec.

On May 4, 2012, at age 40, Nedvěd returned to the Czech Republic national team in the 2012 IIHF World Championship hosted in Finland and Sweden. On May 10, 2012, Nedvěd became the oldest Team Czech Republic player to score a goal in World Championship. He scored game-winning goal against Latvia at the age of 40 years, 6 months and 1 day. On January 6, 2014, Nedvěd was named to the Czech team for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He played in five games as the Czech Republic finished sixth. On March 13, 2014, Nedvěd played his last career game with Bílí Tygři Liberec in a 6–2 home loss against the HC Vítkovice Steel. He officially announced his retirement after the game.

Awards 1989–90 – Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy Rookie of the Year (WHL) 1989–90 – Rookie of the Year (CHL) 1993–94 – silver medal (1994 Winter Olympics) 2011–12 – bronze medal (2012 IIHF World Championship)

Personal life Nedvěd married supermodel Veronika Vařeková in 2004. In early 2006, when playing for the Phoenix Coyotes, Nedvěd asked for a trade to an Eastern Conference team to be closer to Vařeková, who worked primarily in New York City. During the summer of 2006, Nedvěd and Vařeková separated. He has since moved back to the Czech Republic. His brother, defenceman Jaroslav Nedvěd, is also a former ice hockey player.

Legacy In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Nedvěd at No. 71 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSSR U16 34 46 20 66 52 — — — — — 1987–88 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSSR U16 35 67 27 94 64 — — — — — 1988–89 TJ CHZ Litvínov CSSR U18 20 32 19 51 12 — — — — — 1989–90 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 71 65 80 145 80 11 4 9 13 2 1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 61 10 6 16 20 6 0 1 1 0 1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 15 22 37 36 10 1 4 5 16 1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 84 38 33 71 96 12 2 3 5 2 1993–94 Canada Intl 25 24 13 37 22 — — — — — 1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL 19 6 14 20 8 4 0 1 1 4 1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 46 11 12 23 26 10 3 2 5 6 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 45 54 99 68 18 10 10 20 16 1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 33 38 71 66 5 1 2 3 12 1997–98 HC Sparta Prague ELH 5 2 3 5 8 6 0 2 2 52 1997–98 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec CZE II 2 0 3 3 — — — — — — 1997–98 TJ Nový Jičín CZE III 7 9 16 25 — — — — — — 1997–98 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 3 3 3 6 4 — — — — — 1998–99 New York Rangers NHL 56 20 27 47 50 — — — — — 1998–99 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 13 8 10 18 32 — — — — — 1999–2000 New York Rangers NHL 76 24 44 68 40 — — — — — 2000–01 New York Rangers NHL 79 32 46 78 54 — — — — — 2001–02 New York Rangers NHL 78 21 25 46 36 — — — — — 2002–03 New York Rangers NHL 78 27 31 58 64 — — — — — 2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 65 14 17 31 42 — — — — — 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 16 5 10 15 4 — — — — — 2004–05 HC Sparta Prague ELH 46 22 13 35 44 5 2 3 5 10 2005–06 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 25 2 9 11 34 — — — — — 2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 28 5 9 14 36 6 2 0 2 8 2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 21 1 6 7 18 — — — — — 2006–07 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 14 4 7 11 10 — — — — — 2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 19 1 4 5 10 — — — — — 2007–08 HC Sparta Prague ELH 45 20 5 25 98 4 0 1 1 20 2008–09 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 33 14 14 28 72 3 0 1 1 6 2009–10 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 35 15 20 35 94 15 8 9 17 16 2010–11 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 45 14 41 55 74 7 7 3 10 12 2011–12 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 49 24 37 61 64 11 6 7 13 34 2012–13 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 48 20 33 53 151 — — — — — 2013–14 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 49 19 31 50 103 — — — — —NHL totals 982 310 407 717 708 71 19 23 42 64ELH totals 355 150 197 347 708 54 23 26 49 160

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1994 Canada OG 8 5 1 6 6 1996 Czech Republic WCH 3 0 1 1 8 2012 Czech Republic WC 9 3 2 5 2 2014 Czech Republic OG 5 0 1 1 4Senior totals 25 8 5 13 20