František Kucera ( Czech František Kučera , born February 3, 1968 in Prague ) [1] [2] - former Czechoslovak and Czech hockey player, defender; Olympic champion in 1998, world champion in 1999 and 2000. Known for playing in the NHL for clubs such as Chicago Blackhawks , Hartford Whalers , Vancouver Canucks , Philadelphia Flyers , Columbus Blue Jackets , Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals .
 Frantisek Kucera | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | defender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Growth | 188 cm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grab | left | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  Czechoslovakia / Czech | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 3, 1968 (51 years old) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NHL draft | 1986 , 4th Round, 77th, Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaming career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International medals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biography
Career start
He began his playing career in Prague “Sparta”, where he exceeded the level of performances of his peers [1] . Twice won the bronze medal of the European Championship among juniors, in 1986 at the NHL Draft in the 4th round he was selected under number 77 by the Chicago Blackhawks team [3] . A year later, he won silver medals at the World Youth Championship [4] .
NHL Debut
After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990, Kuchera went overseas, where he began to play for the Indianapolis Ice team, the Black Hawks farm club. His teammate was Dominic Hasek . In 1991, as part of the Czechoslovak team, he played at the Canada Cup (6th place). Later, he began playing for the Chicago Blackhawks' main squad and reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1991/1992, where he lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins team ( Jaromir Jagr and Jiri Grdina were champions). He played before the 1993/1994 season, on March 11, 1994, Kuchera joined the Hartford Whalers team, where he performed until the 1995/1996 season. December 19, 1995 moved to Vancouver Canucks, played in the 1996/1997 season for the clubs Houston Aeros [1] and Syracuse Crunch. March 18, 1997 moved to the Philadelphia Flyers, played in its composition in the NHL and also for the farm club Philadelphia Phantoms [5] [6] .
Homecoming
After the 1996/1997 season, Kuchera returned home to Sparta, Prague, for which he played until the end of the 1999/2000 season. At that time, his main achievements in the Czech national team came: Frantisek won the Olympic Games in 1998 and the World Cup in 1999 and 2000 [7] . Then he was the captain of Sparta [8] .
Second NHL performance
In the 2000/2001 season, Kuchera returned to the NHL, becoming a Columbus Blue Jackets player. On March 13, 2001, he moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Ivan Glinka , and performed there until the end of the season.
Third NHL performance
In the summer of 2001, Kuchera again returned to his homeland, where he played for the Prague Sparta. After 10 matches, he again went to the NHL, where he played for the Washington Capitals [9] (on July 11, 2001 he was exchanged with Jaromir Jagr) until the very end of the 2001/2002 season [10] . At that time, his Sparta won the Czech Extra League again and became two-time national champion.
Retirement
Frantisek ended his career as a player in Slavia from Prague, with which he won the third Czech Extra League champion title, and a year later became a silver medalist. On October 21, 2004, he completed his playing career of his own free will [9] [11] [12] .
Beyond Player Career
Frantisek and his brother Vojtech are the owners of the hockey rink in Letnany (Prague) [13] [14] [15] , where Frantisek is training young hockey players [16] . He owns the restaurant "Kucherovka" [16] [17] .
Spouse - Ilona, sons - Frank and Yakub, daughter - Denise [16] .
Achievements
Team
- Olympic champion 1998
- World Champion 1999, 2000
- Champion of the Czech Republic 2000, 2002, 2003
- Silver medalist of the youth World Cup 1987 and the Czech Championship 2004
- Bronze medalist of the European Championship among juniors 1985, 1986 and the World Cup 1989, 1998
Personal
- The best hockey player of the Czech Extra League 2000
- The best defender of the Extra League 1998, 2000 and the World Cup 1998, 1999
- Entered the symbolic national team of the European Championship among juniors 1986 and the 1998 World Cup
Club Performance Statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | Games | Goals | Passes | Glasses | Penalty minutes | Games | Goals | Passes | Glasses | Penalty minutes | ||
| 1985/86 | Sparta (Prague) | League One | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ten | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1986/87 | Sparta (Prague) | League One | 34 | four | 2 | 6 | 14 | 6 | one | 0 | one | - | ||
| 1987/88 | Sparta (Prague) | League One | 45 | 7 | 2 | 9 | thirty | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1988/89 | Dukla (Jihlava) | League One | 34 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 28 | eleven | four | 3 | 7 | - | ||
| 1989/90 | Dukla (Jihlava) | League One | 40 | 9 | ten | nineteen | 42 | one | one | 0 | one | 0 | ||
| 1990/91 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 35 | eight | nineteen | 27 | 23 | 7 | 0 | one | one | 15 | ||
| 1990/91 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 40 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1991/92 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 7 | one | 2 | 3 | four | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1991/92 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 61 | 3 | ten | 13 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992/93 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 71 | five | 14 | nineteen | 59 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1993/94 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | four | 13 | 17 | 34 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1993/94 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | sixteen | one | 3 | four | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1994/95 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 48 | 3 | 17 | 20 | thirty | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1994/95 | Sparta (Prague) | Extraliga | sixteen | one | 2 | 3 | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1995/96 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | thirty | 2 | 6 | eight | ten | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1995/96 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 24 | one | 0 | one | ten | 6 | 0 | one | one | 0 | ||
| 1996/97 | Houston aeros | IHL | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 20 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996/97 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996/97 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 42 | 6 | 29th | 35 | 36 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996/97 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996/97 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 9 | one | five | 6 | 2 | ten | one | 6 | 7 | 20 | ||
| 1997/98 | Sparta (Prague) | Extraliga | 43 | eight | 12 | 20 | 49 | 9 | 3 | one | four | 53 | ||
| 1998/99 | Sparta (Prague) | Extraliga | 42 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 92 | eight | 0 | 2 | 2 | 34 | ||
| 1999/00 | Sparta (Prague) | Extraliga | 51 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 40 | 9 | one | 9 | ten | four | ||
| 2000/01 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 48 | 2 | five | 7 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2000/01 | Pittsburgh penguins | NHL | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2001/02 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 56 | one | 13 | 14 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2001/02 | Sparta (Prague) | Extraliga | ten | 2 | 2 | four | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2002/03 | Slavia (Prague) | Extraliga | 44 | four | 15 | nineteen | 26 | 6 | 0 | one | one | 0 | ||
| 2003/04 | Slavia (Prague) | Extraliga | eleven | one | one | 2 | 6 | sixteen | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2004/05 | Slavia (Prague) | Extraliga | eight | 0 | 0 | 0 | four | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Total in the NHL | 465 | 24 | 95 | 119 | 251 | 12 | 0 | one | one | 0 | ||||
| Total in Extralig / League 1 of Czechoslovakia | 391 | 52 | 89 | 141 | 358 | 66 | ten | 18 | 28 | 97 | ||||
| Total in IHL | 54 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 47 | 7 | 0 | one | one | 15 | ||||
| Total in the AHL | 51 | 7 | 34 | 41 | 38 | ten | one | 6 | 7 | 20 | ||||
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Medailon Františka Kučery na stránkách klubu HC Slavia Praha (Czech)
- ↑ Životopis Františka Kučery na webu Sportovci.cz Archived May 23, 2014 on Wayback Machine (Czech)
- ↑ Seznam českých hráčů draftovaných do NHL 1978-99 Archived April 12, 2010 on the Wayback Machine (Czech)
- ↑ Hráli, stříleli, bodovali (Czech) // Gól: fotbalový a hokejový týdeník. - 1987 .-- 16 ledna ( č. 20 ).
- ↑ Kariéra Františka Kučery na webu Sportovci.cz Archived May 22, 2014 on Wayback Machine (Czech)
- ↑ Hokejisté NHL, kteří působili nebo působí ve Spartě na stránkách klubu HC Sparta Praha (Czech)
- ↑ Úspěchy Františka Kučery Sportovci.cz Archived May 23, 2014 on Wayback Machine (Czech)
- ↑ Finále, plná hala a oslavy, to mě žene dál (Czech)
- ↑ 1 2 František Kučera oznámil konec hokejové kariéry (Czech)
- ↑ Jágr byl vyměněn do Washingtonu!
- ↑ Zajímavosti Františka Kučery na webu Sportovci.cz Archived May 23, 2014 on Wayback Machine (Czech)
- ↑ Co se stalo 2004/2005 (Czech)
- ↑ Jen čtyři z hrdinů olympiády v Naganu ukončili kariéru (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Zlaté Nagano. Už je to 10 let!
- ↑ ICE ARENA v kostce unopened (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment February 18, 2018. Archived on April 22, 2009.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Kučerovy děti porážejí i Spartu
- ↑ Ice Arena Letňany na stránkách Pražské informační služby
Links
- Kuchera, Frantisek - statistics on The Internet Hockey Database
- Kuchera, Frantisek - statistics on Eliteprospects.com
- Kuchera, Frantisek - profile on the NHL website
- Frantisek Kuchera - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com