Vlastimil Kroupa
Vlastimil Kroupa (* April 27, 1975 in Most, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech ice hockey player. Since 2008 he plays for the HC Litvinov in the Czech Extraliga on the position of the defender. During his career he played for the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League as well as the mosquitoes eating in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
Career
Kroupa first went through the junior section of the HC Chemopetrol Litvinov. After graduating at the age of 17 years in the 1992/93 season his first games in the highest Czech league, voted him the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Entry Draft in 1993 in the second round to 45th place and brought him to the same North America. The following four seasons until the end of the 1996/97 season spent the defender between the NHL squad and the minor league farm team of the Sharks. Also the change to the New Jersey Devils in August 1997 brought no change since Kroupa was still mostly used in the farm teams.
After five seasons in North America, in which he had only 105 games in the NHL denied the Czechs moved in the fall of 1999 returned to Europe. He signed a one-year contract with the mosquitoes eating in the DEL. After a further one-year commitment to the HC Sparta Prague in the 2000/ 01 season he returned to his original club after Litvinov, where he stood up to the summer of 2005 under contract. From the beginning of the season 2005/ 06 until the end of the season 2007/ 08 he played at League rivals HC Ocelari Třinec, before he returned to Litvinov.
Internationally
Kroupa represented the Czech national team three times at international level. In addition to attending each one European Junior Championship and Junior World Championship, he played in the Senior World Championships in 1997 and won the bronze medal.