Petr Nedved

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Petr Nedved (born on December 9, 1971) is a Czech-born Canadian professional ice hockey center who plays for the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers after being traded to them in 2006.

Contents

1 Biography
2 Playing career
3 Awards
4 Records
5 Career statistics
6 International play
7 External links

Biography

Nedved was born Petr Nedvěd in Liberec, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic) to Jaroslav and Sona Nedvěd. He left Czechoslovakia as a refugee on January 2 1989 at the age of 17 after playing in an international midget tournament at the Saddledome in Calgary. Nedved was the star of the tournament, with 17 goals and nine assists. He decided to defect to Canada because of the limited opportunities in Czechoslovakia under communist rule, which was very strict regarding athletes leaving the country to pursue professional careers elsewhere. He did not tell his parents about the decision, and with $20 and the help of another Czech who defected, who Nedved refuses to identify even today, he declared his defection at a Calgary police station. In an interview in the Newark Star Ledger, Nedved said that the "fear of regret" was the overriding reason to defect. For ten months until the fall of Czechoslovakia in the Velvet Revolution, Nedved's parents were forced to make calls imploring Nedved to come home.

He is a Canadian citizen, but makes his home in New York City.

Nedved married supermodel Veronika Vařeková in 2004. One reason for requesting the trade to Philadelphia is to be closer to his wife, who works primarily in New York City.

Playing career

After defection, he played one season for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League. He was drafted 2nd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He has previously played for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Phoenix Coyotes.

Outside of the NHL, Nedved played for Sparta Praha (1997-1998, 2004-2005) of the Czech hockey league, the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL, (1998-1999), and the aforementioned Thunderbirds of the WHL.

Awards

1989-90: Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy Rookie of the Year (WHL)
1989-90: Rookie of the Year (CHL)
1993-94: Silver Medal (XVII Olympic Winter Games)

Records

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
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	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	Las Vegas Thunder	IHL	3	3	3	6	4	-	-	-	-	-
1997-98	HC Sparta Praha	Czech Extraliga	5	2	3	5	8	6	0	2	2	52
1998-99	New York Rangers	NHL	56	20	27	47	50	-	-	-	-	-
1998-99	Las Vegas Thunder	IHL	13	8	10	18	32	-	-	-	-	-
1999-00	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 Praha	Czech Extraliga	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
NHL Totals			942	308	397	705	680	71	19	23	42	64

Stats as of June 30, 2006.

International play

1994 - Played for Canada in the XVII Olympic Winter Games

External links

[Petr Nedved on Internet Hockey Database]

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