Richard Šmehlík (born 23 January 1970) is a Czech 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 ...

who played in 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). He was drafted in the fifth round, 97th 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 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Šmehlík joined the Sabres for the 1992–93 season, and played there for nine seasons. He left via free agency for the Atlanta Thrashers before the 2002–03 season. At the trade deadline of the 2002–03 season, Šmehlík was traded to the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in exchange for a draft pick. Šmehlík would go on to win the

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 ...

that season with the Devils. He retired following the season. In his NHL career, Šmehlík appeared in 644 games, tallying 49 goals and adding 146 assists. He also appeared in 88 playoff games, scoring 1 goal and recording 14 assists.

Awards

*Bronze Medal at

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

(with

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 ...

) *Gold Medal at

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

(with

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 ...

) * 2003

champion (with

)

Trivia

*The draft pick the Sabres used to select Šmehlík was acquired from the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in exchange for Lindy Ruff. Ruff would later become the Sabres' head coach, and Šmehlík would play under him for five seasons. *Richard and his wife, Martina, have two daughters: Adela and Jessica. *Šmehlík appears on the cover of the Czech version of the '' NHL 2000'' video game. *During the 1999 Stanley Cup finals he was described as "like a human hovercraft... hard to get around!"

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smehlik, Richard 1970 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Czech ice hockey defencemen Czechoslovak ice hockey defencemen HC Vítkovice players HC Dukla Jihlava players Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics New Jersey Devils players Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Ostrava Stanley Cup champions Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 21st-century Czech sportsmen