Adam Svoboda (26 January 1978 – 7 May 2019) was a Czech ice hockey goaltender and coach.

Club career

Svoboda began his professional career with HC Sparta Praha, starting in 25 games for the club throughout the 1996-97 Czech Extraliga season. He spent the next few years in

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

, before leaving for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in 2004. After brief stints in Russia and Sweden, he returned to the Czech Extraliga at the end of the 2005-06 season. Svoboda won his first Extraliga title in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with

HC Slavia Praha HC Slavia Praha (eng: HC Slavia Prague) is a Czech professional ice hockey team located in Prague playing in the Czech 1st National Hockey League, the second-highest league in the country. Slavia played in the Czech Extraliga from 1994 until ...

, and later a second one five years later, this time as a member of the HC Škoda Plzeň. He retired at the age of 39 in 2017, spending the final season of his career in Kazakhstan.

International

Svoboda was a part of the Czech national team at four different IIHF World Championships, taking home the gold in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and a silver medal a year later. Throughout his career, he also represented his country at numerous smaller international tournaments, including the Euro Hockey Tour.

Death

Svoboda was found dead by police on 7 May 2019. Officers at the scene ruled out foul play, the probable cause of death being

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...

. He was 41 years old. A few months prior to his passing, Svoboda was fired from his coaching job with the Czech national under-18 team after he crashed his car while

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

References

External links

* 1978 births 2019 suicides 2019 deaths Czech ice hockey goaltenders Avangard Omsk players Beibarys Atyrau players HC Berounští Medvědi players HC Lada Togliatti players Nürnberg Ice Tigers players HC Dynamo Pardubice players HC Slavia Praha players HC Sparta Praha players Stadion Hradec Králové players Timrå IK players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Suicides by hanging in the Czech Republic HC Plzeň players Ice hockey people from Brno Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Kazakhstan {{CzechRepublic-icehockey-goaltender-stub