Petr Průcha (born September 14, 1982) 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 ...

forward 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) for 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 ...

and the Phoenix Coyotes.

Playing career

Průcha led the Czech Republic Junior League in points during the 2001–02 season (33 assists and 56 points in 25 games). He was drafted by the

in the eighth round of the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

, 240th overall. He played 47 games in the 2004–05 season for HC Moeller Pardubice in 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 le ...

, scoring seven goals with 17 points. In the 2005–06 season, he joined the Rangers as a rookie, and under the tutelage of

Jaromír Jágr Jaromír Jágr (; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for and the owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguin ...

, he scored 30 goals and 47 points in 68 games. His 16 powerplay goals on the season broke

Camille Henry Joseph Wilfred Camille "The Eel" Henry (January 31, 1933 – September 11, 1997) was a professional Canadian ice hockey left winger who played for the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey Leagu ...

's record for the single-season rookie power play goal mark for the Rangers. On July 5, 2007, Průcha re-signed with the Rangers to a two-year, $3.2 million contract. On March 4, 2009, Průcha was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes, along with Dimitri Kalinin and

Nigel Dawes Nigel Alexander Dawes (born February 9, 1985) is a Canadian- Kazakhstani professional ice-hockey winger for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Phoenix ...

, in exchange for defenceman Derek Morris. On June 19, 2009, he signed a two-year, $2.2 million contract extension with the Coyotes, worth $1.1 million annually. After playing unproductively for some time, the Coyotes assigned Průcha to the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

of 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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL), their top minor league affiliate. Unwilling to play for a minor league team, Průcha soon left for the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) to play for SKA Saint Petersburg. After two seasons with Saint Petersburg, Průcha sat out the following season before opting to retire due to injury.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prucha, Petr 1982 births Living people Czech ice hockey right wingers Hartford Wolf Pack players HC Dynamo Pardubice players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players People from Chrudim Phoenix Coyotes players San Antonio Rampage players SKA Saint Petersburg players Sportspeople from the Pardubice Region