View source for Václav Prospal

{{short description|Czech ice hockey player}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Vaclav Prospal Lightning.JPG
| image_size =
| caption = Prospal with the [[Tampa Bay Lightning]] in 2009
| position = [[Winger (ice hockey)|Left wing]]<br>[[Centre (ice hockey)|Centre]]
| shoots = Left
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 198
| played_for = [[Philadelphia Flyers]]<br>[[Ottawa Senators]]<br>[[Florida Panthers]]<br>[[Tampa Bay Lightning]]<br>[[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]]<br>[[New York Rangers]]<br>[[Columbus Blue Jackets]]<br>[[HC České Budějovice]]
| ntl_team = Czech Republic
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|2|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[České Budějovice]], [[Czechoslovakia]]
| career_start = 1993
| career_end = 2013
| draft = 71st overall
| draft_year = 1993
| draft_team = [[Philadelphia Flyers]]
}}

'''Václav''' "'''Vinny'''" '''Prospal''' (born 17 February 1975) is a Czech former professional [[ice hockey]] player, currently a hockey coach. He played 16 seasons in the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) for the [[Philadelphia Flyers]], [[Ottawa Senators]], [[Florida Panthers]], [[Tampa Bay Lightning]], [[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]], [[New York Rangers]] and [[Columbus Blue Jackets]] from. 1997 to 2013. He is currently serving as an assistant coach of the [[Rochester Americans]] in the American hockey league.

==Playing career==
Prospal was drafted by the [[Philadelphia Flyers]] in the [[1993 NHL Entry Draft]], third round, 71st overall. While with the Flyers, Prospal suffered a fractured arm during the [[1997 Stanley Cup playoffs|1997 playoffs]]. Prospal and another player collided during the Flyers' practice session. During the [[1997–98 NHL season|1997–98 season]], Prospal, who was named to the 1998 [[Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team|Czech Olympic hockey team]], broke his leg while fighting for the puck with [[Lance Pitlick]] during a game with the [[Ottawa Senators]]; Prospal was unable to play in the [[1998 Winter Olympics]]. Prospal was traded to the Senators a few months later. During [[2004–05 NHL season|the 2004–05 lockout]], Prospal played for his hometown team [[HC České Budějovice]], leading them in scoring and helping the team return to the [[Czech Extraliga]].

[[File:Václav Prospal 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Prospal in 2007.]]
At the beginning of the [[2007–08 NHL season|2007–08 season]], while with the Lightning, Prospal posted 12 goals and 10 assists making it his best career start. On February 25, 2008, Prospal was dealt back to the Flyers for defenseman [[Alexandre R. Picard|Alexandre Picard]] and a [[2009 NHL Entry Draft|2009]] second-round draft pick.

On June 18, 2008, the Lightning acquired the rights to Prospal in exchange for the [[Nashville Predators]]' seventh-round pick (previously acquired), 196th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=484581|title=Lightning acquire rights to Prospal | work=[[Tampa Bay Lightning]] | date = 2008-06-18 | access-date = 2014-11-09}}</ref> The Lightning signed Prospal to a four-year contract on June 30, in a deal worth $14 million overall to the player.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/lightning/2008-06-30-roberts-prospal-signed_N.htm|title=Lightning sign Roberts and Prospal | work=[[USA Today]] | date = 2008-06-30 | access-date = 2014-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001144210/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/lightning/2008-06-30-roberts-prospal-signed_N.htm|archive-date= 2014-10-01}}</ref>

On July 28, 2009, Prospal was bought out from the remaining three years of his contract with the Lightning and became a free agent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=4361862 |title=Lightning buy out Prospal's contract | publisher=[[ESPN]] | date = 2009-07-28 | access-date = 2009-07-30}}</ref> On August 16, 2009, Prospal signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the [[New York Rangers]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08162009/sports/rangers/rangers_bring_in_prospal_184796.htm |title=Rangers bring in Prospal |work =[[New York Post]] |date = 2009-08-16 | first=Larry | last=Brooks | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819022243/http://www.nypost.com/seven/08162009/sports/rangers/rangers_bring_in_prospal_184796.htm | archive-date=2009-08-19}}</ref> He was named an alternate captain of the Rangers on November 3, 2009. On July 1, 2010, Prospal was re-signed by the Rangers to another one-year deal worth $2.1 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?id=695&sport=NHL|title=Vaclav Prospal|work=[[Rotoworld]]|date=2010-07-01|access-date=2010-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014134324/http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?id=695&sport=NHL|archive-date=2010-10-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> After he was not re-signed in 2011, he agreed to a 1-year $1.75 million deal with the [[Columbus Blue Jackets]] in the summer of 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/GMScottHowson/status/94816930594172928|title=Vaclav Prospal | work=[[Scott Howson]] | date = 2011-07-23 | access-date = 2011-07-23}}</ref> followed by one-year, $2.5 million contract for the 2012–13 season. On January 24, 2014, he announced his retirement from professional hockey.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-veteran-vinny-prospal-retires-from-pro-hockey/ |title = NHL veteran Prospal retires from pro hockey - Sportsnet.ca}}</ref>

==Post-hockey career==
Prospal worked as a scout for the New York Rangers until the end of the 2013–14 season. He currently lives with his wife and four children in Tampa, Florida. He also served as an assistant coach for the Czech national team in the World Cup of Hockey in September 2016. Now He is Manager of [[HC České Budějovice]] in [[Czech Extraliga]].

==Career statistics==
===Regular season and playoffs===
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5"|[[Regular season]]
! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5"|[[Playoffs]]
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! [[Season (sports)|Season]]
! Team
! League
! GP !! [[Goal (ice hockey)|G]] !! [[Assist (ice hockey)|A]] !! [[Point (ice hockey)|Pts]] !! [[Penalty (ice hockey)|PIM]]
! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
|-
| 1991–92
| [[TJ Motor České Budějovice]]
| CSSR U18
| 36 || 16 || 16 || 32 || 12
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1992–93
| HC České Budějovice
| CSSR U18
| 36 || 26 || 31 || 57 || 24
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| [[1993–94 AHL season|1993–94]]
| [[Hershey Bears]]
| [[American Hockey League|AHL]]
| 55 || 14 || 21 || 35 || 38
| 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1994–95 AHL season|1994–95]]
| Hershey Bears
| AHL
| 69 || 13 || 32 || 45 || 36
| 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 4
|-  
| [[1995–96 AHL season|1995–96]]
| Hershey Bears
| AHL
| 68 || 15 || 36 || 51 || 59
| 5 || 2 || 4 || 6 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1996–97 NHL season|1996–97]]
| [[Philadelphia Flyers]]
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| 18 || 5 || 10 || 15 || 4
| 5 || 1 || 3 || 4 || 4
|- 
| [[1996–97 AHL season|1996–97]]
| [[Philadelphia Phantoms]]
| AHL
| 63 || 32 || 63 || 95 || 70
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1997–98 NHL season|1997–98]]
| Philadelphia Flyers
| NHL
| 41 || 5 || 13 || 18 || 17
| — || — || — || — || —
|-  
| 1997–98
| [[Ottawa Senators]]
| NHL
| 15 || 1 || 6 || 7 || 4
| 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1998–99 NHL season|1998–99]]
| Ottawa Senators
| NHL
| 79 || 10 || 26 || 36 || 58
| 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-  
| [[1999–00 NHL season|1999–00]]
| Ottawa Senators
| NHL
| 79 || 22 || 33 || 55 || 40
| 6 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2000–01 NHL season|2000–01]]
| Ottawa Senators
| NHL
| 40 || 1 || 12 || 13 || 12
| — || — || — || — || —
|- 
| 2000–01
| [[Florida Panthers]]
| NHL
| 34 || 4 || 12 || 16 || 10
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2001–02 NHL season|2001–02]]
| [[Tampa Bay Lightning]]
| NHL
| 81 || 18 || 37 || 55 || 38
| — || — || — || — || —
|-  
| [[2002–03 NHL season|2002–03]]
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| NHL
| 80 || 22 || 57 || 79 || 53
| 11 || 4 || 2 || 6 || 8
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2003–04 NHL season|2003–04]]
| [[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]]
| NHL
| 82 || 19 || 35 || 54 || 54
| — || — || — || — || —
|- 
| [[2004–05 Czech 1. Liga season|2004–05]]
| HC České Budějovice
| [[1st Czech Republic Hockey League|CZE-2]]
| 39 || 28 || 60 || 88 || 82
| 16 || 15 || 15 || 30 || 32
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2005–06 NHL season|2005–06]]
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| NHL
| 81 || 25 || 55 || 80 || 50
| 5 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 0
|- 
| [[2006–07 NHL season|2006–07]]
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| NHL
| 82 || 14 || 41 || 55 || 36
| 6 || 1 || 4 || 5 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" 
| [[2007–08 NHL season|2007–08]]
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| NHL
| 62 || 29 || 28 || 57 || 31
| — || — || — || — || —
|-  
| 2007–08
| Philadelphia Flyers
| NHL
| 18 || 4 || 10 || 14 || 6
| 17 || 3 || 10 || 13 || 6
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" 
| [[2008–09 NHL season|2008–09]]
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| NHL
| 82 || 19 || 26 || 45 || 52
| — || — || — || — || —
|-  
| [[2009–10 NHL season|2009–10]]
| [[New York Rangers]]
| NHL
| 75 || 20 || 38 || 58 || 32
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"  
| [[2010–11 NHL season|2010–11]]
| New York Rangers
| NHL
| 29 || 9 || 14 || 23 || 8
| 5 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0
|-  
| [[2011–12 NHL season|2011–12]]
| [[Columbus Blue Jackets]]
| NHL
| 82 || 16 || 39 || 55 || 36
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2012–13 Czech Extraliga season|2012–13]]
| HC Mountfield
| [[Czech Extraliga|CZE]]
| 19 || 9 || 14 || 23 || 46
| — || — || — || — || —
|-  
| [[2012–13 NHL season|2012–13]]
| Columbus Blue Jackets
| NHL
| 48 || 12 || 18 || 30 || 32
| — || — || — || — || —
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 1,108 !! 255 !! 510 !! 765 !! 581
! 65 !! 10 !! 25 !! 35 !! 26
|}

===International===
{{MedalTableTop|name=}}
{{MedalCountry|{{CZE}}}}
{{MedalSport|[[Ice hockey]]}}
{{MedalOlympic}}
{{MedalBronze| [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Torino]] |}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Ice Hockey World Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2005 IIHF World Championship|2005 Vienna]] |}}
{{MedalGold | [[2000 IIHF World Championship|2000 Saint Petersburg]] |}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[IIHF European Junior Championships|European Junior Championships]]|}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1993 IIHF European U18 Championship|1993 Poland]] |}}
{{MedalBottom}}
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year
! Team
! Event
! rowspan="102" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
|-
| [[1993 IIHF European U18 Championship|1993]]
| [[Czech Republic men's national junior ice hockey team|Czech Republic]]
| [[IIHF European Junior Championships|EJC]]
| 6 || 4 || 7 || 11 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|1994]]
| Czech Republic
| [[IIHF World Junior Championship|WJC]]
| 7 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 16
|-
| [[1995 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|1995]]
| Czech Republic
| WJC
| 7 || 3 || 7 || 10 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2000 IIHF World Championship|2000]]
| [[Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team|Czech Republic]]
| [[Ice Hockey World Championships|WC]]
| 9 || 3 || 4 || 7 || 8
|-
| [[2004 IIHF World Championship|2004]]
| Czech Republic
| WC
| 7 || 3 || 4 || 7 || 2
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[2004 World Cup of Hockey|2004]]
| Czech Republic
| [[World Cup of Hockey|WCH]]
| 4 || 1 || 3 || 4 || 0
|-
| [[2005 IIHF World Championship|2005]]
| Czech Republic
| WC
| 9 || 2 || 6 || 8 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| [[Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament|2006]]
| Czech Republic
| [[Ice hockey at the Olympic Games|OLY]]
| 8 || 4 || 2 || 6 || 2
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Junior totals
! 20 !! 8 !! 15 !! 23 !! 20
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals
! 37 !! 13 !! 19 !! 32 !! 16
|}

==See also==
* [[List of NHL players with 1,000 games played]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Ice hockey stats}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prospal, Vaclav}}
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Columbus Blue Jackets players]]
[[Category:Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada]]
[[Category:Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak ice hockey left wingers]]
[[Category:Czech ice hockey left wingers]]
[[Category:Czech ice hockey coaches]]
[[Category:Florida Panthers players]]
[[Category:Motor České Budějovice players]]
[[Category:Hershey Bears players]]
[[Category:Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Mighty Ducks of Anaheim players]]
[[Category:New York Rangers players]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in ice hockey]]
[[Category:Ottawa Senators players]]
[[Category:Ice hockey people from České Budějovice]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Flyers draft picks]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Flyers players]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Phantoms players]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Lightning players]]
[[Category:21st-century Czech sportsmen]]