Jiří Dopita (, born 2 December 1968 in Šumperk, Czechoslovakia) is former Czech professional ice hockey player, and currently hockey coach. He has played in the Czech Elite League most of his career. He briefly played in the National Hockey League. Dopita has primarily played center throughout his career.

Playing career

Early in his career, Dopita attracted little notice as a professional prospect. At age 23, Dopita was selected in the sixth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, but never came to North America while the Bruins owned his rights. However, starting in 1993, Dopita joined the German Bundesliga with Eisbären Berlin, averaging over a point per game in the Bundeliga and with Berlin's later entry in the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

. Starting in the 1995–96 season, Dopita returned to his native Czech Republic and played with HC Vsetín of the Czech Extraliga. Dopita continued his scoring pace in the Czech Republic, averaging over a point per game every year in six seasons with Vsetín, compiling 315 career points, and being selected again in the NHL draft, this time in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

being selected in the 5th round at 123rd overall by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

. However, once again, Dopita would not play with the Islanders. And at the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

, his right were traded to the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

for a 5th round choice that year. By the late 1990s, some, such as the Hockey News, considered Dopita the best player outside the NHL. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Czech team at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and was named Czech player of the year in 2001, the first non-NHLer to win the award since

Roman Turek Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in 1994. When it became clear that Dopita still did not seem to have interest in coming to North America, his NHL rights were moved again at the

2001 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2001 NHL Entry Draft was the 39th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 23 and 24, 2001 at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida. As of 2022, the only remaining active players in the NHL from the 2001 draft class are M ...

to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2nd round selection that year, the Flyers made a concerted effort to bring Dopita to the NHL. The Flyers had convinced Dopita's former Vsetin HC teammate

Roman Cechmanek Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

to come to North America prior to the previous season and the 32-year-old Dopita agreed to join him in Philadelphia for the

2001–02 NHL season The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, and the playoffs concluded on June 13, with the Detroit Red Wings defea ...

. However, Dopita's time in the NHL was to be disappointing. He recorded respectable totals getting limited ice time with Philadelphia, including a four-goal game against the Atlanta Thrashers, but a knee injury limited him to 52 games. After the season, his rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where he was expected to be a top-two centre. However, Dopita had a terrible season, recording only six points in 21 games. After only two years in the NHL, Dopita returned to the Czech Republic, this time with Pardubice HC. In his second year with Pardubice, at age 36, Dopita recorded less than a point per game in European competition for the first time since his time with Olomouc HC. For 2005–06, Dopita joined

HC JME Znojemští Orli Orli Znojmo (in English Znojmo Eagles) is a Czech-based ice hockey team that currently plays in the 2nd Czech Republic Hockey League. The club Orli Znojmo is based in Znojmo and their home arena is Nevoga Arena. From 1999 to 2009, the club compe ...

and has remained with the team for 2006–07 season too. On 5 May 2006 Dopita became the majority shareholder of Olomouc HC. Dopita is currently the head coach of

VHK Vsetín Valašský hokejový klub Vsetín, also known as Hockey Club Vsetín, is an ice hockey team in the Czech 1. liga (second-level league). The team is the most successful team in Czech Republic ice hockey history, winning five straight Extraliga c ...

Awards and achievements

* Olympic gold medal winner for the Czech Republic in the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

in Nagano * IIHF World Champion: 1996, 2000,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

* Golden Stick Award: 2001 (the highest trophy an ice hockey player can get in the Czech Republic) * Czech Extraliga – Champion: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005 * Czech Extraliga – Regular Season MVP: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 * Czech Extraliga – Play-Off MVP: 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001 * Czech Extraliga – Leading Goal Scorer: 1997, 2000 * German DEL – Leading Point Scorer: 1995

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

*
Jiří Dopita's profile
at HC Znojemští Orli webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:Dopita, Jiri 1968 births Living people Boston Bruins draft picks Czech ice hockey centres Czech ice hockey coaches Edmonton Oilers players Eisbären Berlin players HC Olomouc players HC Kometa Brno players HC Dynamo Pardubice players HC Tábor players Orli Znojmo players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics New York Islanders draft picks Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Šumperk Philadelphia Flyers players VHK Vsetín players Sportspeople from the Olomouc Region