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' Places *Czech, ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

player who is currently playing for

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 the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The lea ...

(ELH). He has won the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) 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 ...

twice with Dynamo in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. Although born in the Slovak city of

Ilava Ilava (german: Illau, hu, Illava) 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 fluvio ...

, Kvapil has represented the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

in various international competitions.

Playing career

After training in

HC Slavia Praha HC Slavia Praha (eng: HC Slavia Prague) is a Czech ice hockey team located in Prague playing the Czech 1st National Hockey League, the second-highest league in the country. Slavia played in the Extraliga from 1994 until 2015, winning the nati ...

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

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

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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, 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 (russian: Хоккейный клуб Амур), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Khabarovsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey L ...

. 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 Sportspeople from Ilava Ice hockey people from the Trenčín Region 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 {{CzechRepublic-icehockey-winger-stub