Frantisek Kucera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice Hockey
Gold	1998 Nagano	Ice Hockey

Frantisek Kucera (born February 3, 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a retired professional ice hockey defenseman.

Originally drafted in 1986 by the Chicago Blackhawks, Kucera played parts of four seasons in the Windy City before he was traded to the Hartford Whalers. He would also play for the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers before he returned to play hockey in the Czech Republic at the end of the 1996-97 NHL season.

Three years later, when the NHL expanded again, Kucera returned to North America and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Midway through the season, he ws traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was traded again, this time to the Washington Capitals in the deal that also sent Jaromir Jagr to Washington. After playing a season, he once again returned to the Czech Republic to play hockey.

Kucera played 465 NHL games, scoring 24 goals and 95 assists. In 1998 he was a member of the Czech Olympic Team and won the golden Olympic medal.