Jiří Dudáček (born April 4, 1962) is a 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 ...

right wing. He was drafted in the first round, 17th 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, making him the first Czechoslovak player to be selected in the first round of a

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 ...

draft. Dudáček was a star for the Czechoslovak team at the

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally ...

in 1980 and 1981, and was considered by many NHL scouts to be the top junior prospect in the 1981 draft class.1981 NHL Entry Draft – Jiri Dudacek
/ref> As Czechoslovakia was a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

country at the time of Dudáček's drafting, bringing him to North America was a difficult proposition for the Sabres organization. Dudáček's father was also a high-ranking Communist party member. While other teams helped Czechoslovak players sneak out of their homeland to come to the NHL, Sabres

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...

attempted to convince Czechoslovak officials to legally allow Dudáček to come to Buffalo. All efforts were declined by the Czechoslovak sports authorities, though, claiming Dudáček was "too young" to leave the country.

Playing career

Dudáček played for the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Canada Cups. He was among Czechoslovakia's leading scorers in 1981, tallying four goals and two assists in six games. In 1984, he went scoreless in four games.Hockey Hall of Fame - Pro Classics: Canada Cup 1984 Czechoslovakia Team Roster
Dudáček never made it to North America to play for the Sabres organization. Instead, he spent his career playing for HC Kladno and HC Jihlava in the Czechoslovak Extraliga, until his retirement in 1991.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudacek, Jiri Czechoslovak ice hockey right wingers Czech ice hockey right wingers Buffalo Sabres draft picks NHL first-round draft picks 1962 births Living people Ice hockey people from Kladno Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in France Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Germany