Petr Svoboda

Petr Svoboda (born February 14, 1966) is a retired Czech professional defenceman who was the first Czech to play over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career
In 1984, Svoboda had participated in the world Under-18 ice hockey championships in the former West Germany as a part of the Czechoslovak team, and after playing one game, he defected to the West. That spring, he was selected fifth overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Throughout his NHL career he played for the Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986. He also participated in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, winning a gold medal with the Czech team. He scored the only final goal against Russia, the goal that brought the gold medal for Czechs. He retired in 2001.

Career statistics
--- Regular Season ---  Playoffs Season  Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM -- 1984-85 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    73    4   27   31   65   7   1   1   2  12 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    73    1   18   19   93   8   0   0   0  21 1986-87 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    70    5   17   22   63  14   0   5   5  10 1987-88 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    69    7   22   29  149  10   0   5   5  12 1988-89 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    71    8   37   45  147  21   1  11  12  16 1989-90 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    60    5   31   36   98  10   0   5   5   2 1990-91 Montreal Canadiens          NHL    60    4   22   26   52   2   0   1   1   2 1991-92 Montreal/Buffalo            NHL    71    6   22   28   146  7   1   4   5   6 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    40    2   24   26   59  --  --  --  --  -- 1993-94 Buffalo Sabres              NHL    60    2   14   16   89   3   0   0   0   4 1994-95 Litvinov CHP HC             Czech   8    2    0    2    0 1994-95 Buffalo/Philadelphia        NHL    37    0    8    8   70  14   0   4   4   8 1995-96 Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    73    1   28   29  105  12   0   6   6  22 1996-97 Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    67    2   12   14   94  16   1   2   3  16 1997-98 Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    56    3   15   18   83   3   0   1   1   4 1998-99 Philadelphia/Tampa Bay      NHL    59    5   18   23   71  --  --  --  --  -- 1999-00 Tampa Bay Lightning         NHL    70    2   23   25  170  --  --  --  --  -- 2000-01 Tampa Bay Lightning         NHL    19    1    3    4   41  --  --  --  --  -- --        NHL Totals                       1028   58  341  399 1605 127   4  45  49 135