Vladimír Vůjtek (born 17 February 1972) is a Czech former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

. He was drafted by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the fourth round, 73rd overall, of the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...

Career

Vůjtek played two seasons for HC Vítkovice in the

Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

before coming to North America to play for the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City Americans' flagship radio ...

. He made his NHL debut with Montreal in the 1991–92 season, appearing in two games before returning the Americans. Vůjtek joined the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

' organization before the 1992–93 season, and played 70 games with the Oilers over two seasons. During the 1994-95 NHL lockout, Vůjtek returned to Europe. He remained in the Extraliga and the

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

of Finland until 1997, where he played for HC Vitkovice for two seasons and spent one season skating with

Ässät Ässät or Ässä may refer to: * HC Ässät Pori Oy, Finnish sports club ** Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (women's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (men's football) ** PATA (esports) *, Finnish band from Oulu *S Group, Finnish Con ...

. Vůjtek returned to the NHL with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

in the 1997–98 season. He played thirty games with the Lightning before being diagnosed with having the Epstein-Barr virus,Post-Gazette.com: Vůjtek Signed With Penguins Despite Bad Run Of Luck In NHL
/ref> which took a toll on his energy and eventually had him miss the remainder of the season. After being unsigned by the Lightning, Vůjtek returned to the HC Vitkovice organization for another season. On 19 July 1999, Vůjtek signed with the Atlanta Thrashers. During a preseason game against the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, Vujtek was accidentally cut by the skate of forward

Valeri Kamensky Valeri Viktorovich Kamenski (russian: Валерий Викторович Каменский) (born 18 April 1966) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player. Playing career Before the National Hockey League (NHL), h ...

and was rushed to the hospital. He received over 100 stitches on his right cheek and underwent over two and a half hours of plastic surgery. After three regular season games with the Thrashers, Vůjtek would again return to the Czech Republic. After two seasons with

HC Sparta Praha Hockey Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as HC Sparta Prague, is a Prague-based Czech ice hockey team playing in the Czech Extraliga. The club has won four Czech championships (most recently in 2007) and four Czechoslovak championships, as w ...

of Extraliga and a successful season with HPK Hameenlinna, Vůjtek returned to the NHL for a third time. Vujtek was signed on 15 July 2002 by then-General Manager Craig Patrick of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

to a one-year, $600,000 contract. Although Vujtek showed promise during training camp as a scoring leader, it did not translate into regular season success. Vůjtek opened the 2002-03 NHL season on the second line working with linemates

Alexei Kovalev Alexei Vyacheslavovich Kovalev ( rus, Алексей Вячеславович Ковалёв, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ kəvɐˈlʲɵf; born February 24, 1973) is a Russian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former pr ...

and

Ville Nieminen Ville Juhani Nieminen (born April 6, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League. Playing career Nieminen started his professional hockey career with Tappara in the Finnish S ...

. After five games, where Vůjtek recorded one assist, Vůjtek requested his release. In his NHL career Vůjtek appeared in 110 games scoring seven goals and adding 30 assists. Vůjtek returned to Europe after his release from the Penguins, where he would play several seasons in the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Switzerland. Vůjtek initially retired after the 2005–06 season after his hometown team HC Vitkovice did not offer him a contract. HC Vitkovice at the time was coached by his father, Vladimír Vůjtek Sr. Vůjtek skated his final season in the Extraliga with

HC Oceláři Třinec HC Oceláři Třinec (''Třinec Steelers'') is a Czech ice hockey team from Třinec who play in the Czech Extraliga, the top tier of Czech ice hockey. Their home arena is the Werk Arena. The team's main sponsors are the local Třinec Iron and Stee ...

, where he scored nine points in twenty-four games.

Retirement

Vůjtek retired after the 2006–07 season. He is now a player agent for Eurohockey Services, co-managing the agency with former

teammate

Michal Sivek Michal Sivek (born January 21, 1981) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who last played for Sparta Praha. He was one of three players acquired from the Washington Capitals for Jaromír Jágr. Retirement On October 1, 2001, Sivek wa ...

Personal

His father, Vladimír Vůjtek Sr., is a head coach with 27 years experience of head coaching experience with Slovak national ice hockey team and teams in the Extraliga and in Russia with both the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

and the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

EliteProspects.com: Team Staff Search Results, Vladimír Vůjtek
/ref>

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WHL (West) First All-Star Team 91/92 * CHL Third All-Star Team 91/92 * World Championship All-Star Team 96/97 * World Championship Bronze Medal 96/97 * World Championship Most Goals 96/97 * World Championship Most Points 96/97 * Czech Extraliga Champion 99/00 * SM-liiga All-Star Team 01/02 * SM-liiga Bronze Medal 01/02 * SM-liiga Player of the Month 01/02

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vujtek, Vladimir 1972 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players Ässät players Atlanta Thrashers players Cape Breton Oilers players Czechoslovak ice hockey right wingers Czech ice hockey right wingers Edmonton Oilers players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia HC Forward-Morges players HC Khimik Voskresensk players HC Oceláři Třinec players HC Sparta Praha players HC Vítkovice players HPK players Las Vegas Thunder players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players Severstal Cherepovets players Sportspeople from Ostrava Pittsburgh Penguins players Tampa Bay Lightning players Tri-City Americans players ZSC Lions players Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada