Jaroslav Spacek (; born February 11, 1974) is a Czech former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

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 ...

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 t ...

who played in the

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

(NHL) for over 13 seasons with 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 in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home g ...

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 Divisio ...

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

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 ...

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, alon ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

and the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...

Playing career

Špaček was drafted in the fifth round, 117th overall, by the

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

. On January 26, 2006, the

traded Špaček to the

in exchange for Tony Salmelainen. In 2005–06, Špaček was part of the Cinderella Edmonton Oilers team that made a run to the

2006 Stanley Cup Finals The 2006 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2005–06 season, and the culmination of the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs. The first Stanley Cup Finals since 2004 after a lockout in 2004 and 2005, it w ...

. However, the Oilers lost in Game 7 of the finals to the

. Špaček had three goals and 11 assists in the 2006 Playoffs. He was only one victory away of joining the

Triple Gold Club The Triple Gold Club is the group of ice hockey players and coaches who have won an Olympic Games gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL). The International Ice ...

. On July 5, 2006, Špaček signed a three-year contract with the

. In the 2006–07 season, he helped the Sabres reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Špaček was named an alternate captain for the month of December 2007 and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the month of January under the Sabres 2007–08 rotating captain and alternate captains system. In the 2008–09 season, Špaček tied a career-high with 45 points in 80 games for the Sabres. On July 1, 2009, Špaček signed a three-year contract worth $11.5 million with the

. In the final year of his contract in the 2011–12 season, on December 9, 2011, Montreal traded Špaček to the

in exchange for defenceman

Tomáš Kaberle Tomáš Kaberle (; born March 2, 1978) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as for the Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Sta ...

. A free agent, and with the 2012–13 NHL lockout in effect well into the 2012–13 season, Špaček effectively announced his retirement on November 19, 2012. He became assistant coach for HC Škoda Plzeň and was also added to Plzeň's roster before the trade deadline. He was forced into playing again in the final series due to injuries to Plzeň's defencemen, and he helped Plzeň win its first-ever

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 le ...

title. In 2014, Špaček was named assistant coach for the Czech team at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.Spacek named assistant coach
/ref> Špaček was inducted into the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame on November 3, 2016.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spacek, Jaroslav 1974 births Living people People from Rokycany Beast of New Haven players Buffalo Sabres captains Buffalo Sabres players Carolina Hurricanes players Chicago Blackhawks players Columbus Blue Jackets players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Czech ice hockey defencemen Edmonton Oilers players Färjestad BK players Florida Panthers draft picks Florida Panthers players HC Plzeň players HC Slavia Praha players Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Montreal Canadiens players Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from the Plzeň Region