Petr Nedvěd

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full namePetr•Nedvěd
Used namePetr•Nedvěd
Nick/petnamesPeter
Born9 December 1971 in Liberec, Liberecký kraj (CZE)
Measurements192 cm / 93 kg
AffiliationsVancouver Canucks, Vancouver (CAN) / Bílí Tygři Liberec, Liberec (CZE)
NOC Canada Czechia
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Born in communist-ruled Czechoslovakia, ice hockey defenseman Petr Nedvěd defected from his country’s CHZ Litvinov Jr. during a tournament in Canada in 1989 and began playing for the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. He was quickly drafted into the National Hockey League and began skating with the Vancouver Canucks, an affiliation that would last three years. He joined the Canadian national men’s ice hockey team in 1993 and accompanied them to the 1994 Winter Olympics, where the country took home a silver medal. At the tournament he played in eight games and scored five goals. Upon his return he joined the NHL’s St. Louis Blues for 19 games, and then moved to the New York Rangers (1994-1995) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (1995-1997) for the next three years. A contract dispute saw him return to the Czech Republic for a season, where he appeared in several matches for various teams. He also had 16 games with the International Hockey League’s Las Vegas Thunder from 1997 through 1998 prior to rejoining the New York Rangers. He stuck with the Rangers until 2004, at which point he was sent to the league’s Edmonton Oilers for the remainder of the 2003-2004 season. He suited up with the Czech Republic’s HC Sparta Praha during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, but played on four different teams during the next two years: the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes (2005-2007), Philadelphia Flyers (2006-2007), and Edmonton Oilers (2007) and the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms (2006-2007). Despite an attempted comeback to the New York Rangers in 2008, he has skated in the Czech Republic since then with HC Sparta Praha (2007-2008) and Bílí Tygři Liberec (2008-2012). In 2012 he won the bronze medal at the Ice Hockey World Championships with the Czech Republic, and in 2014 Nedvěd returned to the Winter Olympics, this time playing for the Czech Republic.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1994 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey (Ice Hockey) CAN Petr Nedvěd
Ice Hockey, Men (Olympic) Canada 2 Silver
2014 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey (Ice Hockey) CZE Petr Nedvěd
Ice Hockey, Men (Olympic) Czech Republic 6

Special Notes