Petr Nedved plays big role on Broadway

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000

By Lucas Aykroyd

Come on. Petr Nedved’s been in the NHL for ten years? No way!

That would be an understandable reaction. It sure doesn’t feel like that long. The big Czech center is only 28 years old, and he missed most of the 1993-94 season and all of 1997-98 due to contract disputes.

But Nedved has come a long way from his rookie season of 1990-91, where the gangly teen struggled to accumulate 10 goals and six assists in 61 games with the Vancouver Canucks. At 6-3 and 195 pounds, the Liberec native is a solid faceoff man and often ranks among the league leaders in shooting percentage. He topped the Rangers scoring derby last year with 68 points.

This season, he’s gotten more ice time than the prodigal Messiah, Mark Messier. Despite notching just four goals in his first 17 games, Nedved is hoping to help the Rangers improve on a 73-point performance in 1999-2000 that left them out of post-season action for the third straight time.

“We didn’t start badly this year,” Nedved told EuroReport after a 4-3 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on 17 November. “We won a couple of games, then we went into a mini-slump and lately we’ve been playing really, really well. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the two points tonight.”

He senses a clear difference between this year’s team and last year’s.

“Obviously, bringing Mark Messier back, you knew that would be a huge help for us, and also signing Malakhov, even though he’s hurt right now, that’s big-time help. I think we have a different attitude this year. We believe we can win the hockey games and that makes the difference.”

Nedved has been impressed with the new “Oilers alumni” coaching staff of Ron Low and assistants Ted Green and Walt Kyle.

“They keep positive thinking to the forefront. They’ve been motivating us a lot and it’s fun to play for those guys.”

In a recent six-game span, Nedved’s line with fellow Czechs Radek Dvorak and Jan Hlavac combined for 20 points, including a hand in four of the team’s last six game-winning goals. Their styles obviously mesh well. In fact, the trio is the focus of a current Rangers ad campaign on the New York subway system.

“We try to skate and create chances that way, by moving the puck fast,” said Nedved. “We haven’t always been scoring as much as we’d like to, but lately we’ve picked up our game and started playing better.”

For Nedved, the Vancouver game was a sort of homecoming. Chosen second overall by the Canucks in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, he remains the third highest Czech ever drafted (after Roman Hamrlik and Patrick Stefan). He finished with 63 goals and 61 assists for 124 points in 222 career games as a Canuck.

His high and low points on the West Coast both came in 1992-93, as he scored 38 goals in the regular season but was scorned for asking for Wayne Gretzky’s stick after Vancouver fell to the L.A. Kings in the second round of the playoffs.

“I had fun here,” said Nedved. “This was my first team and they drafted me, so there are always special memories coming back here. I have nothing but good memories from Vancouver.”

As a Czech with Canadian citizenship who plays in the U.S., where does he feel most at home?

“Obviously I’ve moved quite a bit,” Nedved said with a chuckle. “I had a short stop in St. Louis and then Pittsburgh for a couple of years, and then New York the last couple of years, so it’s been kind of all over the place. I guess once I’m done playing hockey, I’m going to have to think about it and settle down some place.”

Nedved boasts the peculiar distinction of being the only major Czech player ever to play for Team Canada. He helped the Maple Leaf men to a silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. And he wouldn’t be averse to another shot at international competition, whether at the 2002 Olympics or the World Cup in 2004.

“I actually have dual citizenship, so with the rules now, I can choose either to play for Canada or the Czech Republic,” Nedved said. “I’ve got to be honest with myself: I think my chances with the Czech national team are much greater than with the Canadian team, but I definitely wouldn’t turn them down if I had the opportunity to play for Canada. There’s still a long way to go, so I’m going to wait and see.”

Right now, he has to worry about living up to those ever-present chants of “Let’s Go Rangers” at Madison Square Garden.

“For this team, with the amount of talent we have and playing in New York, winning the Cup is the only goal we have. Nothing else is satisfying for this club. Hopefully we can bounce back from tonight’s loss and start winning again.”

Maybe Nedved’s time is coming.