Jiří Šlégr (; born 30 May 1971) 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

, and was a member of the 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

championship team after being acquired in a late-season trade. Šlégr was inducted into the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame on December 12, 2019. In 2010, Šlégr, a candidate of the

Czech Social Democratic Party Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European ...

, was elected into the

Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (, PS PČR), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats and deputies are elected for four-year terms ...

. He is currently

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 ...

of the Czech men's national team.

Playing career

Šlégr was drafted 23rd overall by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Šlégr played parts of three seasons with the Canucks, before being traded to 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 ...

for Roman Oksiuta, where he played for parts of two seasons. He spent the 1996–97 season playing in Södertälje SK in Sweden. He then returned to the

NHL 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 ...

, where he had been traded to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

for a 3rd round draft pick, and played three and a half seasons there, wearing number 71 that would later be more associated with Evgeni Malkin. In January 2001, he was traded to the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

for a 3rd round draft pick. Atlanta traded Šlégr to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

for Yuri Butsayev and a 3rd round draft pick in March 2002 and won the

with the Red Wings that season. He signed as a free agent with Vancouver in September 2003, but was traded to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

in January 2004 for a conditional pick after falling out of favor with

coach

Marc Crawford Marc Joseph John Crawford (born February 13, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played as a forward (hockey), forward for the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Crawford won the Stanley Cup ...

. Šlégr spent 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 ...

season with HC Litvínov in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

before returning to the

for the 2005–06 season. After leaving the NHL, Šlégr returned to the Czech Republic to play for HC Litvínov, and for EHC Biel of the NLA during the 2007 playoffs.

International play

Šlégr won a gold medal in the 2005 World Championships and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

for the

, and a bronze medal in the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Olympics for

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Along with the

he won with the Detroit Red Wings in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, Šlégr won all three major trophies in ice hockey, gaining entry to the prestigious Triple Gold Club.

Political career

In the 2010 elections, Šlégr was elected into the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

as a candidate of the

in the Ústecký kraj, a region in northern Bohemia. Although the Social Democrats won the elections, they found themselves isolated and a right-wing government led by

Petr Nečas Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 20 ...

was formed instead, forcing the Social Democratic Chairman, Jiří Paroubek, to resign. Šlégr, loyal to Paroubek, followed the former chairman in 2011 when he left the Social Democrats and founded a new party, the National Socialists – 21st Century Left. Since he had refused to resign, Šlégr remained in the Parliament as an unaffiliated MP. Šlégr announced on June 14, 2013 that he was "going back to the clean environment among athletes" and stepped down from his position.

Return to hockey

At 42 years of age, Šlégr returned to play two more seasons for Litvínov, finally retiring for good as a player in 2015. In his last season, he also served as the team's assistant coach, which began a transition into an off-ice career. He would serve as Litvínov's head coach, general manager and club president before leaving in 2020. On 10 October 2024, Šlégr was named the new

of the Czech men's national team. He replaced former teammate

Petr Nedvěd Petr Nedvěd (born December 9, 1971) is a Czech-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1990 and 2007. Early career Nedvěd was born in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to Jaroslav ...

, who had resigned due to family reasons.

Personal life

He is the estranged son of former

defenceman Jiří Bubla. He legally changed his surname from Bubla to his stepfather's surname Šlégr as a child. Šlégr was married 15 years with Kateřina Šlégrová. The couple split in November 2010 and divorced in February 2013. Šlégr married Lucie Králová in May, 2015.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slegr, Jiri 1971 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Avangard Omsk players Boston Bruins players Cape Breton Oilers players Czech ice hockey defencemen Czech Social Democratic Party MPs Czechoslovak ice hockey defencemen Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers players Hamilton Canucks players HC Litvínov players Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Jihlava Pittsburgh Penguins players Södertälje SK players Stanley Cup champions Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2010–2013) Czech sportsperson-politicians Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia