David Výborný (born January 22, 1975) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who last played for

BK Mladá Boleslav BK Mladá Boleslav () is a professional ice hockey team which plays in the Czech Extraliga, the country's highest level. They were promoted into the league on 18 April 2014 after a two-year absence. They play their home games at Ško-Energo Aréna ...

of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

. He played for the

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

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Internationally, he played for the Czech Republic men's national team and won five World Championships, and a bronze medal in ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He was inducted into the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

in 2025.

Playing career

Early career

Výborný first rose to prominence playing with

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

of the

in 1992. He scored 20 goals and 44 points in 52 games, all as a teenager. The

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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

picked Výborný up in the second round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, and he proved that he was not a fluke by scoring 46 points for Sparta in the next season. Výborný came over to

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for the 1994–95 season and played for the

Cape Breton Oilers The Cape Breton Oilers were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team was the top minor league affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers' organization relocated the team from Hal ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). He again performed quite well, scoring 61 points in 76 games, third most on his team and fifth most among AHL rookies. However, he headed back to Europe after only one season in the AHL. Upon his return to Sparta, he scored at a rigorous pace. He scored 42 points in 40 games and helped Sparta into the playoffs, where he again scored more than a point per game. Výborný spent one more season in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and continued to improve with 49 points in 47 games; he added 14 more in the playoffs. Výborný was a star in the Czech Republic, but he went to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

for the 1997–98 season. He played for Modo and led the team in scoring. Again, after just one season abroad, Výborný went back to Sparta Prague. In the 1998–99 season, Výborný cemented his place as one of the stars of the Czech hockey scene. He scored 70 points in 52 games and won the Extraliga's scoring title by 18 points. In the next season, he continued to rack up points and finished second in the league's scoring race. He also won a championship with Sparta. Finally, it seemed as if Výborný had nothing left to prove in the Czech Republic. David Vyborny

NHL career

On June 8, 2000, Výborný was signed by the

to add some scoring punch in their first season. He debuted in the NHL on October 7, and scored a goal on in his very first NHL game. His production for Columbus was much less than it had been in Prague. In the end, he scored 13 goals and 19 assists, for a total of 32 points in 79 games. He was also ranked 10th among rookies for goals and points and was the first rookie ever to score on multiple

penalty shot A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a Goal (sport), goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or k ...

s in one season. Výborný's performance (31 points) was very similar in his second season. As the Blue Jackets improved, though, so did Výborný. In the

2002–03 NHL season The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. League business Entry draft ...

, he scored 46 points and led his team with a +12 plus/minus, which set a record for the Blue Jackets. Výborný improved still more for the

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

, and he scored 22 goals and 31 assists, for a total of 53 points. He led Columbus in assists and came in second to

Rick Nash Richard Nash (born June 16, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who serves as the director of player development for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). After being selected List of first overall ...

in goals and points. In addition to his offensive talent, Výborný has proved to be quite durable, as he currently holds the Blue Jackets record for the most consecutive games, with 161. He tied for fourth in the NHL in shorthanded goals with four, another record for the Blue Jackets. Výborný played for

during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

Back to Europe

On April 25, 2008, it was announced that Výborný was returning to Sparta Prague for the 2008–09 season. With his departure, Rostislav Klesla became the only remaining player from the Blue Jackets' inaugural season. In 2011, Výborný signed with

BK Mlada Boleslav BK or Bk may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Burger King, a chain of fast-food restaurants * The Bank of New York Mellon, the New York Stock Exchange symbol for The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) * Brahma Kumaris, a relig ...

. He helped the club win back-to-back championships in the Czech second-division in 2013 and 2014 and earn promotion to the top Czech division in 2014. After suffering a torn ACL, he announced his retirement on March 15, 2016.

Awards and achievements

* Played in the Czech Ice Hockey Extraliga All-Star game in 1999 and 2000 * Appeared on the cover of the Czech edition of the

NHL 2K7 ''NHL 2K7'' is an ice hockey video game made by 2K, and published on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton on its cover. Bob Cole and Harry Neale return from NHL 2K6 t ...

video game.

Records

*NHL record for most penalty shot goals in a season by a rookie

International play

Výborný won five World Championships with the

Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team The Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. Since 2021, the team has been officially known in English as Czechia. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in history ...

and a bronze medal in ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics. At the

2006 IIHF World Championship The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event ...

, when capturing silver, he was named to the all-tournament team. At the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and 1998 World Championships, he won bronze. He was inducted into the

in 2025.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vyborny, David 1975 births Living people 21st-century Czech sportsmen BK Mladá Boleslav players Cape Breton Oilers players Columbus Blue Jackets players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech ice hockey right wingers Czechoslovak ice hockey right wingers Edmonton Oilers draft picks HC Sparta Praha players Ice hockey people from Jihlava Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Modo Hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Olympic medalists in ice hockey