Richard Šmehlík (born January 23, 1970) is a 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 h ...
defenceman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...
who 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). He was drafted in the fifth round, 97th overall, by the
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
in the
1990 NHL Entry Draft
The 1990 NHL Entry Draft was the 28th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 16, 1990. It is remembered as one of the deeper drafts in NHL history, with fourteen of the twenty- ...
.
Šmehlík joined the Sabres for the
1992–93 season, and played there for nine seasons. He left via
free agency
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...
for the
Atlanta Thrashers before the
2002–03 season.
At the trade deadline of the 2002–03 season, Šmehlík was traded to the
New Jersey Devils in exchange for a draft pick. Šmehlík would go on to win the
Stanley Cup that season with the Devils. He retired following the season.
In his NHL career, Šmehlík appeared in 644 games, tallying 49 goals and adding 146 assists. He also appeared in 88 playoff games, scoring 1 goal and recording 14 assists.
Awards
*Bronze Medal at
1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 February 1992
, closing = 23 February 1992
, opened_by = President François Mitterrand
, cauldron ...
(with
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
)
*Gold Medal at
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 ...
(with
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 ...
)
* 2003
Stanley Cup champion (with
New Jersey Devils)
Trivia
*The draft pick the Sabres used to select Šmehlík was acquired from the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
in exchange for
Lindy Ruff
Lindy Cameron Ruff (born February 17, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ruff was previously the head coach of the Dallas Stars of the NHL, and al ...
. Ruff would later become the Sabres' head coach, and Šmehlík would play under him for five seasons.
*Richard and his wife, Martina, have two daughters: Adela and Jessica.
*Šmehlík appears on the cover of the Czech version of the ''
NHL 2000
''NHL 2000'' is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1999 and was the successor to ''NHL 99''. The game did not boast great improvements to the game from ''NHL 99'', nor did ''NHL 2001'' feature any ide ...
'' video game.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smehlik, Richard
1970 births
Living people
Atlanta Thrashers players
Buffalo Sabres draft picks
Buffalo Sabres players
Czech ice hockey defencemen
Czechoslovak ice hockey defencemen
HC Vítkovice players
HC Dukla Jihlava players
Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
New Jersey Devils players
Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia
Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic
Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic
Olympic ice hockey players of Czechoslovakia
Olympic medalists in ice hockey
Sportspeople from Ostrava
Stanley Cup champions