David Volek
 |
| David Volek | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
16 August 1966 Prague, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
TJ Slavia PS Karlovy Vary HC Sparta Praha New York Islanders | ||
| National team |
 Czechoslovakia | ||
| NHL draft |
208th overall, 1984 New York Islanders | ||
| Playing career | 1984–1996 | ||
David Volek (born 16 August 1966)[1][2] is a Czech former professional ice hockey player.
Volek was born in the former Czechoslovakia, where he played in 1983–84 for TJ Slavia PS Karlovy Vary. He later moved to HC Sparta Praha and became a member of the Czechoslovakian national ice hockey team for the 1988 Winter Olympics.[1][2] In 1988 he gained permission from the Czech authorities to visit his parents in West Germany and used this permission to defect to Canada. He joined the New York Islanders, having been selected by them in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1988–89.
Volek is best remembered for scoring an overtime goal that eliminated the favoured and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins from the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs. The goal came at 5:16 of overtime in the seventh (and deciding) game of the second round of the playoffs. CBC Hockey Night in Canada announcer Chris Cuthbert called Volek's play in a dramatic fashion:
Samuelsson pass off a skate. Volek turns with Ferraro. Here they come, 2 on 1; Volek shoots, SCORES!!! David Volek, Islanders! And there’ll be a new Stanley Cup Champion in 1993!
The next year, a herniated disc forced Volek to retire from the NHL. Volek finished his NHL career, which was spent exclusively with the Islanders, with 95 goals and 154 assists for 249 points. He underwent back surgery the following year in an attempt to return to the game, but after five games with HC Sparta Praha, he was forced to retire for good.[3]
Volek has been the assistant coach of HC Sparta Praha since 2005. Between his retirement from playing in 1996 and 2005 he was a scout.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1982–83 | TJ Slavia PS Karlovy Vary | CSSR-Jr | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | TJ Slavia PS Karlovy Vary | CSSR-Jr | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | TJ Sparta ČKD Praha | CSSR | 32 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | TJ Sparta ČKD Praha | CSSR | 35 | 10 | 7 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | TJ Sparta ČKD Praha | CSSR | 39 | 27 | 25 | 52 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | TJ Sparta ČKD Praha | CSSR | 42 | 29 | 18 | 47 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | New York Islanders | NHL | 77 | 25 | 34 | 59 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | New York Islanders | NHL | 80 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 41 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | New York Islanders | NHL | 77 | 22 | 34 | 56 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | New York Islanders | NHL | 74 | 18 | 42 | 60 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | New York Islanders | NHL | 56 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | New York Islanders | NHL | 32 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Sparta Praha | ELH | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Slavia Becherovka Karlovy Vary | CZE II | 16 | 7 | 4 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | TJ Stadion Nymburk | CZE IV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | NED Hockey Nymburk | CZE III | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | NED Hockey Nymburk | CZE III | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| TCH totals | 148 | 71 | 55 | 126 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| NHL totals | 396 | 95 | 154 | 249 | 201 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Czechoslovakia | EJC | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | |
| 1984 | Czechoslovakia | EJC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Czechoslovakia | WJC | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | |
| 1987 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1987 | Czechoslovakia | CC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1988 | Czechoslovakia | OLY | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1991 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | |
| Junior totals | 17 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 16 | |||
| Senior totals | 33 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 14 | |||
References
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "David Volek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012.
- ^ a b "David Volek". Olympic.cz (in Czech). Czech Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013.
- ^ "David Volek". Legends of Hockey. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- David Volek at Olympics.com
- David Volek at Olympedia (archive)
- David Volek at Olympijskytym.cz (in Czech)
- David Volek at Olympic.cz (in Czech) (archived)
- 1966 births
- Living people
- Buffalo Sabres scouts
- Calgary Flames scouts
- Czech ice hockey coaches
- Czech ice hockey forwards
- Czechoslovak ice hockey forwards
- HC Sparta Praha players
- Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- New York Islanders draft picks
- New York Islanders players
- Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia
- Ice hockey people from Prague
- Vancouver Canucks scouts
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Czechoslovak defectors
- Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada
- Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people