Marek Kvapil (born 5 January 1985) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who is currently playing for

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

of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

(ELH). He has won the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup () is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was supposedly named after Gagarin because the last po ...

twice with Dynamo in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. Although born in the Slovak city of

Ilava Ilava (, ) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. Name The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as Levice), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom Vag'', later ''Ilava''. ...

, Kvapil has represented the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in various international competitions.

Playing career

After training in

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 ...

's development program, Kvapil moved to North America after being drafted by the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the ...

in the first round (11th overall) of the 2004

CHL Import Draft The CHL Import Draft is an annual event in which every team in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) may select the rights to eligible import players. An import is classified as a player who does not have residency status in either Canada or the Un ...

. He was drafted the following year by the

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

, though would never play for the team. After spending three years in their farm system, Kvapil returned to Europe in 2008 to continue his career. On 7 April 2017, Kvapil agreed to return to the KHL in signing a one-year contract as a free agent with

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Khabarovsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Located in the Russian Far East, th ...

. In the 2017–18 season, Kvapil contributed with just 1 goal in 11 games before ending his brief stint with Amur in returning to the Czech Extraliga with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec on a three-year contract on 10 November 2017.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1985 births Amur Khabarovsk players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players Czech ice hockey right wingers HC Dynamo Moscow players Fort Wayne Komets players Johnstown Chiefs players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players HC Kometa Brno players Living people Mississippi Sea Wolves players HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players Norfolk Admirals players Ice hockey people from Ilava Saginaw Spirit players Severstal Cherepovets players HC Slavia Praha players Springfield Falcons players Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks HC Vítkovice players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Czech expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in Croatia 21st-century Czech sportsmen {{CzechRepublic-icehockey-winger-stub