Petr Svoboda

Petr Svoboda (born February 14, 1966) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He was the first Czech to play over 1,000 games in the NHL.

He is the former director of hockey operations for Lausanne HC.

Playing career In 1984, Svoboda had participated in the European Under-18 ice hockey championships in then-West Germany as a part of the Czechoslovak team, and after the completion of the tournament, he defected to the West in order to play hockey at a higher professional level. That spring, he was selected fifth overall in the 1984 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. His career highlights include winning the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986, and winning gold with the Czech team in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where he scored the only goal in the gold medal game against Russia. He retired from professional hockey in 2001 and then worked as a player agent. In May 2020, he became co-owner and director of hockey operations for Lausanne HC in Switzerland.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1982–83 TJ CHZ Litvínov TCH 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1983–84 TJ CHZ Litvínov TCH 18 3 1 4 20 — — — — — Montreal Canadiens NHL 73 4 27 31 65 7 1 1 2 12 Montreal Canadiens NHL 73 1 18 19 93 8 0 0 0 21 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 5 17 22 63 14 0 5 5 10 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 7 22 29 149 10 0 5 5 12 Montreal Canadiens NHL 71 8 37 45 147 21 1 11 12 16 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 5 31 36 98 10 0 5 5 2 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 4 22 26 52 2 0 1 1 2 Montreal Canadiens NHL 58 5 16 21 94 — — — — — 1991–92 Buffalo Sabres NHL 13 1 6 7 52 7 1 4 5 6 Buffalo Sabres NHL 40 2 24 26 59 — — — — — Buffalo Sabres NHL 60 2 14 16 89 3 0 0 0 4 1994–95 HC Litvínov, s.r.o. ELH 8 2 0 2 50 — — — — — Buffalo Sabres NHL 26 0 5 5 60 — — — — — 1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 0 3 3 10 14 0 4 4 8 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 73 1 28 29 105 12 0 6 6 22 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 67 2 12 14 94 16 1 2 3 16 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 56 3 15 18 83 3 0 1 1 4 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 25 4 2 6 28 — — — — — 1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 34 1 16 17 53 — — — — — Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 70 2 23 25 170 — — — — — Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 19 1 3 4 41 — — — — — NHL totals 1,028 58 341 399 1,605 127 4 45 49 135

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1983 Czechoslovakia EJC 5 0 0 0 8 1984 Czechoslovakia WJC 7 0 4 4 16 1984 Czechoslovakia EJC 5 1 1 2 16 1998 Czech Republic OG 6 1 1 2 39 Junior totals 17 1 5 6 40 Senior totals 6 1 1 2 39