Ladislav Šmíd (, born February 1, 1986) 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, ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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 la ...

who formerly played for

HC Bílí Tygři Liberec Bílí Tygři Liberec (English: ''Liberec White Tigers'') are a professional ice hockey club based in Liberec, Czech Republic. The team competes in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of play in professional Czech ice hockey. History The firs ...

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 leag ...

(ELH). Before he moved to the ELH, he played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with 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 of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and

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, and ...

Playing career

As a youth, Šmíd played in the 2000

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a team from

Chomutov Chomutov (; german: Komotau) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The city centre is well preserved and is protec ...

. Šmíd was drafted in the first round of the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout, ...

, ninth overall, by the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title *Th ...

. He played

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

for HC Liberec Junior in the 2001–02 season, and split the following three seasons between HC Liberec Junior and the professional

. He also played for 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. The ...

in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

IIHF World U20 Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

s, as well as for the under-18 team the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships. After coming to North America, Šmíd spent the 2005–06 season with the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...

, at the time the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate of the Mighty Ducks. On July 3, 2006, he was traded to the

with

Joffrey Lupul Joffrey Lupul (born September 23, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. In his professional career, Lupul played in the NHL for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was select ...

and several draft picks in exchange for disgruntled defenceman

Chris Pronger Christopher Robert Pronger ( or ; born October 10, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and a former advisor to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Originally selected second overall by the Hartford ...

. Šmíd made the Oilers' roster out of his first training camp with the team, and spent the entire 2006–07 season with Edmonton. After the Oilers missed the

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...

, he joined the Czech senior team at the

2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2007 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 71st World Ice Hockey Championship. The competition also served as qualification for division placements in the 2008 competition. Canada won the tournament, receiving the gold medal for the ...

. The following year, he was cut from the Oilers' training camp and assigned to the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ar ...

of the AHL, with whom he played eight games before being recalled to Edmonton. After the 2008–09 season, Šmíd was part of a trade negotiated between the Oilers and the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

that would have seen him, as well as teammates

Andrew Cogliano Andrew Cogliano (born June 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played for the Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks. On ...

and

Dustin Penner Dustin Penner (born September 28, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals. Undrafted by any NHL ...

, dealt to Ottawa in exchange for forward

Dany Heatley Daniel "Dany" James Heatley (born January 21, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National ...

. Heatley, however, refused to waive the

no-trade clause In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft p ...

in his contract to go to Edmonton, and after more than a month of the Oilers unsuccessfully trying to persuade Heatley to change his mind, the trade fell through and Šmíd remained with the Oilers. In October 2009, the Oilers revealed that Šmíd had been diagnosed with

H1N1 In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the Spanish flu, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxovirus ...

, though he did not miss any games as a result. In Šmíd's sixth season in the NHL, he turned into a reliable shutdown defenceman, often paired with

Jeff Petry Jeffrey Petry ( ; born December 9, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round, 45th overall, at the 2006 NH ...

on defence and playing against other teams' top lines each night. Šmíd finished the season with a positive plus-minus rating, and was in the top ten in blocked shots for the majority of the season. Šmíd suffered a neck injury in a game against the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

; despite avoiding serious neck injury, he did not play in any of the Oilers' remaining games in the season. He ranked top five in the NHL for blocked shots for the 2011–12 season, also receiving attention for accidentally hitting Oilers Head Coach

Tom Renney Thomas Renney (born March 1, 1955) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach and executive. He served as the chief executive officer of Hockey Canada from 2014 to 2022, and was previously an associate coach with the National Hockey League's Detroit ...

with a puck after deflecting it into the air during a drill during practice. On April 1, 2013, Šmíd signed a four-year, $14 million contract extension with the Oilers. At the time of his signing, he was in the final year of a two-year deal signed prior to the 2011–12 season. On November 8, 2013, Šmíd was traded by the Oilers to rivals, the

, along with Olivier Roy, in exchange for Roman Horák and

Laurent Brossoit Laurent Brossoit (born March 23, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Brossoit was selected by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round, 164th ove ...

. With his tenure with the Flames marked by a lingering back injury, Šmíd in his last year under contract sat out the entirety of the 2016–17 season, in order to rehabilitate his injury. As an impending free agent, on May 23, 2017, Šmíd signed a two-year contract in returning to his original club in the Czech Republic, HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the ELH. On March 29, 2022, Šmíd announced his retirement from professional hockey following HC Bílí Tygři Liberec’s elimination in the 2022 playoffs. The loss came after the second longest game in the history of Czech hockey against

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 ...

. Šmíd played more than 40 minutes in his final game.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smid, Ladislav 1986 births Anaheim Ducks draft picks HC Benátky nad Jizerou players HC Berounští Medvědi players Calgary Flames players Czech ice hockey defencemen Edmonton Oilers players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players Living people National Hockey League first-round draft picks Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics People from Frýdlant Portland Pirates players Springfield Falcons players Stockton Heat players Sportspeople from the Liberec Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States