Miroslav Dvořák (ice hockey)
Miroslav Dvořák (October 11, 1951 – June 12, 2008) was a Czechoslovak ice hockey defenseman. He played three seasons in the 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.
| Miroslav Dvořák | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
October 11, 1951 Hluboká nad Vltavou, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Died |
June 12, 2008 (aged 56) České Budějovice, Czech Republic | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Philadelphia Flyers HC České Budějovice ASD Dukla Jihlava | ||
| National team |
 Czechoslovakia | ||
| NHL Draft |
46th overall, 1982 Philadelphia Flyers | ||
| Playing career | 1959–1989 | ||
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.[1] He was drafted by Philadelphia Flyers in the 3rd round in 1982 and played three seasons in North America, playing in the National Hockey League for Philadelphia. He had to wait until his thirties to play 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 June 12, 2008. His family played composer Antonín Dvořák's "New World Symphony" at the funeral.[2]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Czechoslovakia | ||
| Olympics | ||
.svg.png.webp){kind=icon} | 1976 Innsbruck | |
| World Championships | ||
.svg.png.webp){kind=icon} | 1976 Austria | |
| 1977 Poland | |
| 1974 Finland | |
| 1975 West Germany | |
| 1978 Czechoslovakia | |
| 1979 Soviet Union | |
| 1982 Finland | |
| 1983 Germany | |
| 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 | |||
References
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Miroslav Dvořák". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
- Video on YouTube
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database