Czech up - 07-02-10
The Penguins' signing of defenseman Zbynek Michalek (right) continued a fine tradition.
No, not the long, proud heritage of players with first names beginning with a Z.
With all due respect to Zarley Zalapski and Zigmund Palffy, an even more impressive legacy was given a new lease on life yesterday.
With Michalek on board, the Penguins will extend a streak of 20 consecutive season with at least one Czech on the roster during the season.
From the the days of a young Jaromir Jagr being taught the ropes by Jiri Hrdina during the early 1990s, to the heady pseudo times when the Penguins doubled as the Czech national team in the late 1990s all the way through to the lean times of Josef Melichar and Milan Kraft, Pittsburgh has been Prague West.
And now with Michalek under contract for five years, this streak has the potential to last a quarter century.
| Season (No. of players) |
Players | Games Played |
Goals- Assists- Points |
| 1990-91 (2) |
Jiri Hrdina, C Jaromir Jagr, RW |
37 80 |
6-14-20 27-30-57 |
| 1991-92 (2) |
Jiri Hrdina, C Jaromir Jagr, RW |
56 70 |
3-13-16 32-37-69 |
| 1992-93 (2) | Jaromir Jagr, RW Martin Straka, C |
81 42 |
34-60-94 3-13-16 |
| 1993-94 (2) | Jaromir Jagr, RW Martin Straka, C |
80 84 |
32-68-99 30-34-64 |
| 1994-95 (2) | Jaromir Jagr, RW Martin Straka, C |
48 31 |
32-38-70 4-12-16 |
| 1995-96 (2) | Jaromir Jagr, RW Petr Nedved, C |
82 80 |
62-87-149 45-54-99 |
| 1996-97 (4) |
Josef Beranek, LW Petr Klima, RW Jaromir Jagr, RW Petr Nedved, C |
8 9 63 74 |
3-1-4 1-3-4 47-48-95 33-38-71 |
| 1997-98 (4) | Jaromir Jagr, RW Robert Lang, C Jiri Slegr, D Martin Straka, C |
77 51 73 75 |
35-67-102 9-13-22 5-12-17 19-23-42 |
| 1998-99 (6) |
Jan Hrdina, C Jaromir Jagr, RW Robert Lang, C Pavel Skrbek, D Jiri Slegr, D Martin Straka, C |
82 81 72 4 63 80 |
13-29-42 44-83-127 21-23-44 0-0-0 3-20-23 35-48-83 |
| 1999-2000 (7) |
Josef Beranek, LW Jan Hrdina, C Jaromir Jagr, RW Robert Lang, C Michal Rozsival, D Jiri Slegr, D Martin Straka, C |
13 70 63 78 75 74 71 |
4-4-8 13-33-46 42-54-96 23-42-65 4-17-21 11-20-31 20-39-59 |
| 2000-01 (11) |
Josef Beranek, LW Jan Hrdina, C Jaromir Jagr, RW Milan Kraft, C Frantisek Kucera, D Robert Lang, C Josef Melichar, D Michael Rozsival, D Roman Simicek, C Jiri Slegr, D Martin Straka, C |
70 78 81 42 7 82 18 30 29 42 82 |
9-14-23 15-28-43 52-69-121 7-7-14 0-2-2 32-48-80 0-2-2 1-4-5 3-6-9 5-10-15 27-68-95 |
| 2001-02 (6) |
Jan Hrdina, C Milan Kraft, C Robert Lang, C Josef Melichar, D Michal Rozsival, D Martin Straka, C |
79 68 62 60 79 13 |
24-33-57 8-8-16 18-32-50 0-3-3 9-20-29 5-4-9 |
| 2002-03 (7) |
Jan Hrdina, C Milan Kraft, C Josef Melichar, D Michal Rozsival, D Michael Sivek, C Martin Straka, C Vladimir Vujtek, LW |
57 31 8 53 38 60 5 |
14-25-39 7-5-12 0-0-0 4-6-10 3-3-6 18-28-46 0-1-1 |
| 2003-04 (3) |
Milan Kraft, C Josef Melichar, D Martin Straka, C |
66 82 22 |
19-21-40 3-5-8 4-8-12 |
| 2005-06 (1) |
Josef Melichar, D | 70 | 1-11-12 |
| 2006-07 (1) | Josef Melichar, D | 72 | 3-12-15 |
| 2007-08 (1) | Petr Sykora, RW |
81 | 28-35-63 |
| 2008-09 (1) | Petr Sykora, RW | 81 | 25-21-46 |
| 2009-10 (1) | Martin Skoula, D | 33 | 3-5-8 |
| 2010-11 (1) | Zbynek Michalek, D | -- | -- |
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)