Tomáš Vokoun

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Goaltender
catches = Right
height_ft = 6
height_in = 0
weight_lb = 195
team = Florida Panthers
league = NHL
nationality = Czech Republic
birth_date = Birth date and age|1976|7|2|mf=y
birth_place = Karlovy Vary, CZE
career_start = 1995
draft = 226th overall
draft_year = 1994
draft_team = Montreal Canadiens

---

image_size = 250px
former_teams = Nashville Predators
Montreal Canadiens

Tomáš Vokoun (born July 2, 1976 in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) is a professional ice hockey goaltender for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Vokoun was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 226th overall. He spent the next year with Poldi Kladno in the Czech Republic.

He moved to America for the 1995–96 season and played for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He was also called up to play for Fredericton Canadiens of the AHL for a playoff game. Having proven himself in the ECHL, Vokoun spent the 1996–97 season with Fredericton and played in one game in the National Hockey League (NHL), for Montreal. His one game for Montreal was not a particularly stellar performance as he gave up four goals in only twenty minutes.

After another season with Fredericton, Vokoun was chosen by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft on June 26, 1998.

Vokoun played 37 games for Nashville in their debut season and played nine games for the Milwaukee Admirals in the International Hockey League (IHL). Although, he again split time between the two clubs in the following season, by 2000, Vokoun was in the NHL to stay. However, he saw only limited action as the backup to Mike Dunham. In 2002, Dunham was traded to the New York Rangers for Marek Zidlicky, Tomas Kloucek, and Rem Murray, and Vokoun was awarded the starting job.

Vokoun acquitted himself well when given the chance to start, and he shouldered a heavy load for the Predators. His play was good enough in the 2003–04 NHL season to send him to the All-Star Game for the first time. Possibly more important to Vokoun, though, was the chance to go to the playoffs, and the Predators earned their first trip in 2004. Although the Predators lost in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs, they surprised many by giving the Red Wings more of a challenge than expected. In games three and four, both played in Nashville, Vokoun awed spectators with his performance netting the first-ever playoff shutout in franchise history by stopping 41 Red Wing shots.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Vokoun played 19 regular season games for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish SM-liiga, with a 93.96 saves percentage. In the playoffs, Vokoun did not perform as well, having an 84.62 saves percentage in 4 games—the worst in the league in that year's playoffs.Nevertheless, Vokoun's emergence as one of the world's elite goaltenders has even earned his picture being placed on the cover of Nashville's city directory. Furthermore, he was a fan favorite—during home games at the Sommet Center, when he made a save, the Predators fans in attendance would give a loud chant of "VOO-KOOOON!" emanating from all areas of the arena.

On April 10, 2006, the Predators announced that Vokoun was afflicted by thrombophlebitis of the pelvis, a blood-clotting condition. He missed the team's remaining regular season games and the entire playoffs while he recovered by taking blood-thinning drugs and avoiding physical activity. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2403689] Backup goalie Chris Mason took his place as the starter, but the Predators failed to advance in the playoffs, again losing the quarterfinals. On July 24, 2006, Vokoun was cleared to resume his career and returned for the 2006–07 NHL season. [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=172246&hubname=]

In the beginning 2006–07 NHL season, Vokoun hurt his thumb during a game and had to have surgery.Pins were put in this thumb, and he plays with the pins and a brace on his thumb. On the day of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Vokoun was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (No. 58) and a conditional second-round selection in either 2007 or 2008.

Vokoun was selected to play for the Eastern Conference team in the 2008 NHL All Star Game in Atlanta.

Awards

* Runner-up for the NHL Rookie of the Month award for December 1998
* NHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 2, 2000 (3–0–0, 1 shutout, 1.33 Goals Against Average (GAA), .960 save percentage; he is the first Predator to ever win this award)
* NHL Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending November 30, 2003 (4–0–0, 1.50 GAA, .950 save percentage)
* Selected to play for the Western Conference in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game
* Selected to play for the Eastern Conference in the 2008 NHL All-Star Game

Records

Each of the below records are current as of the end of the 2005–06 NHL season.

* Nashville Predators franchise single-season record for wins (36)
* Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for wins (134)
* Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for losses (147)
* Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for goaltender appearances (340)
* Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for consecutive games

Career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

International play

Played for the Czech Republic in:

* 1994 World Junior Championships
* 1996 World Junior Championships
* 2004 World Championships
* 2004 World Cup of Hockey
* 2005 World Championships (gold medal)
* 2006 Olympic Games (bronze medal)

References

* [http://www.nashvillepredators.com/team/player.asp?player_id=101 Nashville Predators - Tomas Vokoun]
* [http://www.sm-liiga.fi SM-liiga official website] ; Finnish league stats for 2004–05.