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Wikipedia / David Volek

David Volek (born 16 August 1966) 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 Czechoslovak national ice hockey team for the 1988 Winter Olympics. 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:

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.

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