Jiřà Hrdina
Jiří Hrdina ( born January 5, 1958 in Prague, Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech professional ice hockey player who played in his time from 1977 to 1992 among others for the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League.
- 3.1 International
Career
Hrdina comes from the offspring of Boleslav Škoda Auto and began his professional career in 1977 in the highest Czechoslovakian league with Sparta Prague CKD. First, he played as a right winger, but was retrained to center forward later. During his military service, he played two years for the HC Dukla Trenčín, but then returned back to Prague. He regularly played for the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team. He celebrated the biggest success at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Only shortly before the tournament after he moved into the squad and played in a forward line with Pavel Richter and Vladimír Růžička. This series was instrumental in the winning the silver medal. In the same year he had the Calgary Flames selected at the NHL Entry Draft in 1984 in the eighth round at 159th place, even if a transfer of a player from the Eastern bloc was still very unlikely. The mid-1980s he played in Sparta along with David Volek and Jiri Dolezal, making these one of the most dangerous attack ranks of the 1st league. At the end of the season 1986/87 Hrdina was honored as the best striker in the first league.
After Calgary then took him the Olympic Winter Games in 1988 and there he remained. He became 30 years old and shortly before he was given immediately after the Olympic tournament, the release for the change in the NHL. He even came in the 1987/88 season with the Flames to nine appearances in the regular season and a. In the playoffs He was the first Czech who ever played for the team. With almost 31 years, he went to the then rules in his official rookie season in which he had 22 goals and 23 Assists most successful newcomer of the Flames. Much more important, however, that he could win the Stanley Cup with his team in the 1988/89 season. In addition, he helped the Flames his compatriot Robert Reichel, get used to life in North America and the NHL.
In December 1990 he transferred in exchange for Jim Kyte to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here it was very important not only for its sporting qualities. With Jaromir Jagr, the Penguins had a great talent in their ranks and Hrdina took care in his first two years, especially off the ice by his young compatriot. Sporty It went great with the Penguins. In the 1990/91 season the team won the Stanley Cup for the first time Mario Lemieux and defended the title in the following season. After the end of the season Hrdina ended his active career. In the four seasons, he had completely played in the NHL, he won the Stanley Cup three times. He was the first European who could win the Stanley Cup with two different teams.
Later he worked as a scout for the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars. On the 100th birthday of Sparta Prague Jiří Hrdina was elected to the All- Star team of the club and hung his jersey with the number 21 under the hall roof.
Awards and achievements
Internationally
Career Stats
Internationally
Overall, Jiří Hrdina completed 194 games for Czechoslovakia, where reach him 55 goals.
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )