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

right wing Right-wing politics is 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 position b ...

. He was drafted by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

in the fourth round, 73rd overall, of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Career

Vůjtek played two seasons for

HC Vítkovice HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to play for the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of re ...

. 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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

' 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 Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

of Finland until 1997, where he played for

HC Vitkovice HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

for two seasons and spent one season skating with Ässät. 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. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

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 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 ...

. During a preseason game against the

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

, Vujtek was accidentally cut by the skate of forward Valeri Kamensky 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 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 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. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

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 Stanley Cup Champion Ville Nieminen started his professional hockey career w ...

. 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 S ...

, 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. He played 38 games in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2002–03 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1997 to 200 ...

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 Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

and the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

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 Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) 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 Ice hockey people 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