Leo Gudas (born May 20, 1965) 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 ...

Playing career

Gudas began his playing career in 1981 with TJ PS Stadion Liberec in the second-tier

1st. Czech National Hockey League The 1st. Czech National Hockey League was, along with the 1st. Slovak National Hockey League, the second level of ice hockey in Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1993. The league was made up teams from the area of the modern Czech Republic. Champions ; ...

before joining

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 ...

of the top-tier

Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League 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 ...

in 1983. He moved to

HK Dukla Trenčín Hokejový Klub Dukla Trenčín is a professional Slovak ice hockey club based in Trenčín, playing in the Slovak Extraliga. The club has won three Slovak league championships (1994, 1997, 2004) and one Czechoslovak league championship (1992). Th ...

in 1986 for one season before returning to Sparta Praha. In 1990, Gudas was drafted into 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 ...

, selected 251st overall by 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, and ...

in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Gudas though never signed with the Flames, nor did he ever play in North America. Instead, he moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and signed for

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...

in the

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. After two seasons, he moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Eishockey-Bundesliga The Eishockey-Bundesliga ("Federal Ice Hockey League") was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the '' Oberliga'' in this position.Klein, p. 12 From the 1994-95 season, it was in turn repla ...

and signed for Hedos München before returning to Sparta Praha for a third spell, in the newly created

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 ...

, founded following the peaceful separation of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Gudas later had spells in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

for EHC Biel and in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

GET-ligaen Eliteserien, known as Fjordkraftligaen due to sponsorship, is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the tw ...

for the

Spektrum Flyers Spektrum Flyers was a short-lived ice hockey team from Oslo, Norway. A merger between Manglerud Star and Furuset, it played the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons in Eliteserien, the premier ice hockey league in Norway, with home games at Oslo Spek ...

before returning to the Czech Extraliga once more in 1995, signing for

HC Kometa Brno HC Kometa Brno ("Comet" in English) is a professional ice hockey team based in Brno, Czech Republic. They play in the Czech Extraliga. Kometa is the most successful ice hockey club in the Czech Republic with 13 Czechoslovak (and Czech) league ch ...

. In 1996, Gudas moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with

IF Troja-Ljungby IF Troja-Ljungby is a Swedish ice hockey club from Ljungby, Sweden. They are currently playing in the third highest league in Sweden, Hockeyettan Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 season, the league c ...

in the

Hockeyettan Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 Hockeyettan season, 2015–16 season, the league consists of 46 teams divided geographically into four groups. Hockeyettan operates a system of promotion and relegation w ...

before returning to Germany in 1998 for the

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...

of 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 ...

, the successor league to the Bundesliga he played in six years prior. He followed up with spell in the 2nd Bundesliga for Heilbronner EC and in the Czech 1.liga for

HC Berounští Medvědi HC Berounští Medvědi is an ice hockey team in Beroun, 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 ...

before ending his playing career in 2003.

Coaching career

Gudas worked as an assistant coach for

and

Piráti Chomutov Piráti Chomutov is a Czech ice hockey team from Chomutov, Czech Republic. Established as ČSK Chomutov in 1945, the team has played in Chomutov through numerous team name changes and elevations/relegations in the Czechoslovak and Czech hockey l ...

before becoming head coach for

SK Kadaň SK may refer to: Businesses and organizations * SK Foods, an American agribusiness company * SK Hand Tools, an American tool manufacturer * Sangguniang Kabataan, Philippines youth councils * SK Group, South Korean conglomerate * Scandinavian Airl ...

.Kadaň už našla nového kormidelníka. Hlavním trenérem se stal bývalý vynikající obránce Leo Gudas
/ref> He also worked as head coach for

HC Most HC Most is an ice hockey team in Most, Czech Republic. They play in the Czech 1.liga, the second level of Czech ice hockey. The club was founded in 1946.

ŠHK 37 Piešťany ŠHK 37 Piešťany was a professional Slovak ice hockey club, based in Piešťany, Slovakia. The club was founded in 1937 the team is nicknamed Havrani Which Means Ravens in English Honours Domestic Slovak 1. Liga * Winners (2): 2009–10, 2 ...

and SC Csíkszereda.

Personal life

Gudas is the father of

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

defenseman

Radko Gudas Radko Gudas (born 5 June 1990) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Ca ...

. He is also the father-in-law of

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Michal Neuvirth Michal Neuvirth ( , ; born 23 March 1988) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selecte ...

, following Neuvirth's marriage to Gudas' daughter, Karolina.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gudas, Leo 1965 births Living people Augsburger Panther players Calgary Flames draft picks Czech ice hockey defencemen Czechoslovak ice hockey defencemen EHC Biel players HC Berounští Medvědi players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HC Kometa Brno players HC Sparta Praha players Heilbronner EC players HK Dukla Trenčín players Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics JYP Jyväskylä players Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Bruntál Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia IF Troja/Ljungby players Ice hockey people from the Moravian-Silesian Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Finland Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Norway Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Expatriate ice hockey players in Norway