Roman Vopat (born April 21, 1976) 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 h ...

player. He played four seasons 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) for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of 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 ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

, and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

. He is the younger brother of former NHL defenceman,

Jan Vopat Jan Vopat (born March 22, 1973) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who played 126 games in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators between 1996 and 1999. He is the older brother of former NHL cen ...

Playing career

He was drafted by the

as their seventh-round draft pick, #172 overall, in the

1994 NHL Entry Draft The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was the 32nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28–29, 1994. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Patrik Elias and Eric Boulton, who both played their last NHL ...

. Vopat started his playing career in his native Litvínov, before spending a season in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major 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 h ...

with the

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...

, joining the Blues' IHL affiliate the Peoria Rivermen for their playoff run during the 1994–95 season. He then joined the St. Louis organization the next season but was sent back to Moose Jaw for further development, he later moved to the

Prince Albert Raiders The Prince Albert Raiders are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Raiders play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. They are based in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays its hom ...

. On February 27, 1996, Vopat, along with Craig Johnson,

Patrice Tardif Patrice Pamphile Tardif (born October 30, 1970) is a former professional ice hockey centre who played for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings. Biography Tardif was born in Thetford Mines, Quebec. As a youth, he pla ...

and two draft picks were traded from the St. Louis Blues to the

for

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

. After three seasons in LA, he was traded to the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

for

Eric Lacroix Eric Lacroix (born July 15, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lacroix played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Ottaw ...

, but never played a game for the Avalanche as he was then traded to the

less than a month later. After three games with Chicago he was traded once more to the

for Mike Maneluk. At the start of the 1999–2000, Vopat was sent to the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule ...

, which marked the end of his NHL career. After just 12 games, he spent the rest of the season with the Essen Mosquitoes of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in

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 ...

. Vopat then played five seasons in

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 ...

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 ...

, for

Pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the cit ...

, and

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. In 2005, he returned to the Czech Republic with

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 w ...

but then returned to Finland, this time signing a contract with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its h ...

, HIFK's local archrival. In 2006, he moved to Sweden and signed with Leksands who play in the country second tier league.

Career statistics

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vopat, Roman 1976 births Chicago Blackhawks players Czech ice hockey centres Essen Mosquitoes players Fredericton Canadiens players HC Litvínov players HC Sparta Praha players HIFK (ice hockey) players Ilves players Jokerit players Leksands IF players Living people Los Angeles Kings players Moose Jaw Warriors players Lahti Pelicans players People from Litvínov Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Prince Albert Raiders players St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Worcester IceCats players Sportspeople from the Ústí nad Labem Region