Zdeněk Nedvěd

Zdeněk Nedvěd (born March 3, 1975 in Lány, Czechoslovakia) is a professional ice hockey player who played 31 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Nedved scored a dazzling goal on his first NHL shift but never became a regular in the league. He was a fine puck handler with a good wrist shot but he was unable to fight through the close checking of the NHL with regularity. Nedved was a teenage star with Poldi Kladno. His family sent him to North America to play junior and develop his game more completely. Nedved became a fine scorer with the OHL's Sudbury Wolves and was chosen 123rd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993. He scored 97 goals his last two years of junior and represented the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championships in 1994 and 1995. During the 1994 tourney played in his homeland, Nedved was among the top scorers while wreaking havoc in the offensive zone with David Vyborny.

Nedved played one game for Toronto late in 1994-95 then prepared for the upcoming training camp. He made the 1995-96 edition of the Leafs and scored a goal early in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nedved's play tailed off over the next month and he was sent down to the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. Eventually his season was ruined by a serious shoulder injury suffered in a mishap during practice. The next year Nedved played 23 games for Toronto but was unable to perform consistently. Nedved played for St. John's then the IHL's Long Beach Ice Dogs before leaving North America in 1998.

He moved back to his homeland where he played for HC Sparta Praha in 1998-1999. He then moved to Finland's SM-liiga and spent 4 seasons with Lukko Rauma. He then spent two seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany with the Kassel Huskies and the Hannover Scorpions before returning to Finland with Kärpät.

Nedved then spent two seasons with Anyang Halla in Asia. Currenly he is playing for HC Kladno in the Czech Extraliga.

External links

*hockeydb|6742
*legendsofhockey|14867