Richard Å mehlÃk
Richard Šmehlík ( born January 23, 1970 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player who has played for many years in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres as a defender.
Career
Richard Šmehlík began his career in his hometown at HC Vitkovice Ostrava, for whom he debuted in the 1988/ 89 in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. During the NHL Entry Draft in 1990, he was selected by the Sabres in the fifth round to 97th, but played until 1992 for his hometown club HC Dukla Jihlava and the. Prior to the 1992/93 season the Sabres then took him to North America and Šmehlík made it immediately to the NHL roster of the team. From then on, he was an integral part of the team for over a decade from Buffalo, with whom he reached the final of the Stanley Cup in 1998/99. There, however, the Sabres failed 4-2 to the Dallas Stars.
In the summer of 2002, his contract ran out in Buffalo and Šmehlík signed as a free agent contract with the Atlanta Thrashers. Shortly before the trade deadline of the following season, the Sabres traded it against a draft law with the New Jersey Devils. In the final of the Stanley Cup, the Devils, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat 4-3, so Šmehlík but still won the most important hockey trophy. After this success, he gave in September 2003 his retirement from professional sport known.
Internationally
Earlier in his career took Richard Šmehlík Czechoslovakia regularly at international championships and each won a bronze medal at Junior World Championships, the men and at the Winter Olympics. After the division of his homeland, he played for the Czech Republic at the Olympic Winter Games in 1998 and 2002 and was 1998 Olympic champion.