- Milan Hejduk
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Milan Hejduk 
Born February 14, 1976
Ústí nad Labem, CzechoslovakiaHeight 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) Position Right wing, Centre Shoots Right NHL team
Former teamsColorado Avalanche
HC PardubiceNational team 
Czech RepublicNHL Draft 87th overall, 1994
Quebec NordiquesPlaying career 1993–present Milan Hejduk (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlan ˈɦɛjduk] (
listen); born February 14, 1976) is a Czech professional ice hockey forward and the captain for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).Contents
Playing career
The 6-foot (1.83 m) tall, 190-pound (86 kg) Hejduk was drafted 87th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 4th round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, after a year with HC Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga, after he won the Czech Rookie of the Year with 11 goals in 32 games. Hedjuk would remain with Pardubice until 1998, scoring 14, 13, 27, and 26 goals in his next four seasons before transferring to the NHL after the 1997–98 season.
He won the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goalscorer when he scored 50 goals for the Avalanche in the 2002–03 season, narrowly beating Markus Näslund of the Vancouver Canucks, who had been leading for most of the season. Hejduk scored a goal against the Calgary Flames in a 3–0 win for the Avalanche on March 12, 2006, putting him equal with Peter Forsberg in sixth place on the all-time Avalanche franchise goalscoring list with 216 goals. He won a Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Hejduk returned to HC Pardubice, racking up 25 goals in 48 Czech Extraliga games. Hejduk with Pardubice won Extraliga.
In the 2008–09 season, Hejduk scored his 300th goal alongside Ryan Smyth on January 18, 2009 against the Calgary Flames in a 6–2 victory at the Pepsi Center.[1] He dressed for all 82 games that year for the Avalanche and ended their most unsuccessful season in history tied with Smyth as the Av's top scorer with 59 points. Milan also led the Avalanche for the fifth time in his career with 27 goals.
Prior to the 2009–10 campaign, Hejduk was signed to an additional one-year contract extension ending in 2011 on September 24, 2009.[2] Alongside long-time teammate and Captain Adam Foote, Hejduk provided veteran leadership to a re-invigorated youth laden Avalanche side to start the year. After initially persisting with a knee and back injuries through the first half of the season, on January 19, 2010, Milan opted to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and forgo the 2010 Winter Olympics with the Czech Republic to recoup.[3] After over a month on the sidelines, Hejduk scored two goals against the St. Louis Blues to mark his return on March 7.[4] In helping Colorado return to the playoffs he completed the year to place third on the team with 23 goals despite playing in a career low 56 games. Hejduk scored just 1 goal in playoffs before he succumbed to a head injury after a collision with line-mate Paul Stastny in game three of the Western conference Quarter-finals series defeat against the San Jose Sharks.[5]
On May 11, 2011, Hejduk extended his stay with Avalanche signing a one-year contract for the 2011–12 season.[6] On November 14, Milan Hejduk was named the third captain in Colorado Avalanche history after a brief vacancy left by Adam Foote's retirement.
NHL All-Star Games
Hejduk has been selcted to play in three NHL All-Star Games. In 2000 All-Star Game, he played on the World team in a 9–4 win over North America. He earned a primary assist on Pavol Demitra's third period goal. In 2001, he was chosen to replace an injured Jaromír Jágr in the starting line-up, one of the six Avs selected as starters. He did not, however, pick up a point in a 14–12 loss to North America. In 2009, he was selected as the only Av in the All-Star Lineup for the 57th All-Star Game.[7] He posted a goal and two assists in an 12–11 shootout loss to the Eastern Conference.
Personal life
Milan is married to Zlatuse and has twin sons named Marek and David, born January 3, 2004.[8][9]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94 HC Pardubice CZE 32 11 4 15 0 10 5 1 6 0 1994–95 HC Pardubice CZE 49 14 14 28 6 6 3 1 4 0 1995–96 HC Pardubice CZE 37 13 7 20 4 — — — — — 1996–97 HC Pardubice CZE 51 27 11 38 10 10 6 0 6 27 1997–98 HC Pardubice CZE 48 26 19 45 20 3 0 0 0 2 1998–99 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 14 34 48 26 16 6 6 12 4 1999–00 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 36 36 72 16 17 5 4 9 6 2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 80 41 38 79 36 23 7 16 23 6 2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 62 21 23 44 24 16 3 3 6 4 2002–03 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 50 48 98 32 7 2 2 4 2 2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 35 40 75 20 11 5 2 7 0 2004–05 HC Pardubice CZE 48 25 26 51 14 16 6 2 8 6 2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 74 24 34 58 24 9 2 6 8 2 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 80 35 35 70 44 — — — — — 2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 77 29 25 54 36 10 3 3 6 4 2008–09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 27 32 59 16 — — — — — 2009–10 Colorado Avalanche NHL 56 23 21 44 10 3 1 0 1 0 2010–11 Colorado Avalanche NHL 71 22 34 56 18 — — — — — NHL totals 910 357 400 757 302 112 34 42 76 28 International
Medal record Competitor for Czech RepublicIce hockey Winter Olympics Gold 1998 Nagano Bronze 2006 Torino World Championships Bronze 1998 Basel Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1995 Czech Republic WJC 7 1 3 4 14 1996 Czech Republic WJC 6 0 0 0 0 1998 Czech Republic OG 4 0 0 0 2 1998 Czech Republic WC 1 0 0 0 0 2002 Czech Republic OG 4 1 0 1 0 2003 Czech Republic WC 7 5 1 6 2 2004 Czech Republic WCH 4 3 2 5 2 2006 Czech Republic OG 8 2 1 3 2 Junior int'l totals 13 1 3 4 14 Senior int'l totals 28 11 4 15 8 Awards and honours
Award Year National Hockey League All-Rookie Team 1997–98 All-Star Game 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2008–09 [7] Stanley Cup 2000–01 Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy 2002–03 Bud Light Plus/Minus Award 2002–03 Second All-Star Team 2002–03 References
- ^ "Smyth, Hejduk score perfect game: hit 300". Denver Post. 2009-01-18. http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_11487320. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ "Avs sign Hejduk to extension". KXLH. 2009-09-24. http://www.kxlh.com/news/avs-sign-hejduk-to-extension/. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "Hejduk to have knee surgery Thursday". ESPN. 2010-01-19. http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/icehockey/news/story?id=4836972. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "Stewart gets first Hat-Trick in Colorado win". Yahoo! Sports. 2010-03-07. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2010030617. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "Hejduk a Game 6 scratch for Avalanche". CBC.ca. 2010-04-23. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stanleycup/W1vW8/story/2010/04/23/sp-hejduk-injury-update.html. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "Avalanche sign veteran Hejduk to one-year deal". The Sports Network. 2011-05-11. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=365416. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ^ a b "Datsyuk and Lidstrom suspended for not playing in NHL All-Star Game". Rocky Mountain News. 2009-01-23. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/23/datsyuk-and-lidstrom-suspended-for-not-playing/. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "Colorado Avalanche Media Guide". Colorado Avalanche. 2008-09-26. http://downloads.avalanche.nhl.com/other/pdf/2008_09_CA_MediaGuide_rev.pdf. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
- ^ "Avalanche 3, Wild 1". Colorado Avalanche. 2004-01-04. http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2003020590. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
External links
- Milan Hejduk's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Milan Hejduk's NHL player profile
- Milan Hejduk's Player profile at NHLPA.com
Links to related articles Preceded by
Jarome IginlaWinner of the Rocket Richard Trophy
2003Succeeded by
Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk, Rick NashPreceded by
Chris CheliosCo-winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award
(with Peter Forsberg)
2003Succeeded by
Martin St. Louis and Marek MalikPreceded by
Jaromír JágrGolden Hockey Stick
2003Succeeded by
Robert LangPreceded by
Adam FooteColorado Avalanche captain
2011–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1976 births
- Colorado Avalanche players
- Czech ice hockey players
- Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Living people
- National Hockey League All-Stars
- National Hockey League players with 50 goal seasons
- Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic
- Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic
- Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic
- People from Ústí nad Labem
- Quebec Nordiques draft picks
- Rocket Richard Trophy winners
- Stanley Cup champions
- Olympic medalists in ice hockey
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