Petr Buzek (born April 26, 1977) 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 ...

former

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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He was drafted in the third round, 63rd overall, by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. After five seasons in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, he returned to 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 ...

in 2003 until his retirement in 2005.

Playing career

Prior to his selection at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Buzek was involved in a serious car collision in 1995 after falling asleep at the wheel and colliding with a tree. He broke both his legs, nose and wrist, shattered his right kneecap, fractured his left cheekbone and cracked his forehead. After numerous operations, he had a metal plate and ten screws inserted into his left leg, a plate and seven screws inserted into right ankle, two screws in his right knee and two

screws A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

in his left wrist. The accident dropped his stock considerably as he was projected as a top 10 pick, before he was drafted in the third round by the Dallas Stars. Buzek played three seasons with the

Michigan K-Wings Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are ...

of the International Hockey League, during which he also appeared in four games with the Stars. Buzek joined the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

in the

1999 NHL Expansion Draft The 1999 NHL expansion draft was an expansion draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 1999–2000 season, the Atlanta Thrashers. The draft took place on June 25, 1999, in Boston, M ...

, and was named to the 2000 All-Star Game as the Thrashers' first-ever representative. Despite his success in their inaugural season, Buzek appeared in only 14 more games with the Thrashers in the next two seasons before being traded to the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

, along with a draft pick, in exchange for Jeff Cowan and

Kurtis Foster Kurtis Foster (born November 24, 1981) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 408 career games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Junior hockey Peterborough Petes (1997–2002) ...

. Buzek appeared in 76 games in a season and a half with the Flames. Buzek returned to 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 ...

for the 2003–04 season, 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 ...

. The next season, he played for

HC Jihlava HC Dukla Jihlava, founded in 1956, is an ice hockey team in the Czech Republic. It won the Czechoslovak Extraliga title 12 times: six consecutive championships beginning in 1967, then in 1974, four consecutive championships beginning in 1982, an ...

and then moved to

HC Litvínov HC Litvínov, called HC VERVA Litvínov for sponsorship reasons, is an ice hockey team in the Czech Extraliga. Their home arena is Ivan Hlinka Stadion in Litvínov. Honours Domestic Czech Extraliga * Winners (1): 2014–15 * Runners-up (1) ...

before moving to the

Slovak Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

to play for

HC Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava () is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Tipsport Liga (hockey), Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, it returned to ...

. On October 18, 2005, Buzek announced his retirement from hockey, citing personal reasons for his decision.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzek, Petr 1977 births Atlanta Thrashers players Calgary Flames players Chicago Wolves players Czech ice hockey defencemen Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players HC Dukla Jihlava players HC Litvínov players HC Slovan Bratislava players HC Sparta Praha players Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Living people National Hockey League All-Stars Ice hockey people from Jihlava Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States