Florida Panther's Richard Zednik and His Hockey Career

Richard Zednik is a name that most people have heard, even people who aren't fans of hockey have heard of this guy, not necessarily for his career, but for his very famous accident. Richard Zednik was born in Banska Bystrica, Czechoslovakia (that part that is now Slovakia) on January 6, 1976, making him thirty-three years old. Richard Zednik is 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 196 pounds, and plays right wing. Zednik was actually drafted the same year that he started to play in the WHL (Western Hockey League). The WHL is one of the three hockey leagues which makes up the CHL (Canadian Hockey League), the most competitive junior level hockey league in Canada.

In 1994, Richard Zednik was drafted by the Washington Capitals, 249th overall. As mentioned before, Zednik remained in the WHL after being drafted. In the 1994-1995 season, he played with the Portland Winter Hawks. Zednik started off the 1995-1996 season with the Portland Winter Hawks, but was moved to the Portland Pirates in the AHL (American Hockey League). The AHL is a league that serves as a developmental league for future NHL players and most NHL teams have an affiliate team they use as a feeder. Richard Zednik played 61 games with the Winter Hawks, one with the Portland Pirates, and was called up at the very end of the season to play one game with the Washington Capitals.

Richard Zednik was placed back in the AHL for the majority of the 1996-1997 season, but was called up by the Washington Capitals once again to play eleven games. This time, though, he stayed in the NHL. Richard Zednik played his first full season with the Washington Capitals in the NHL the 1997-1998 season. Zednik remained with the Capitals until the 2000-2001 season, when he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. Zednik played with the Montreal Canadiens until the end of the 2003-2004 season. During the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout, Richard Zednik went home to play for the HKm Zvolen in the SVK (Slovak Extraliga). Once the Lockout was over, Richard Zednik returned to the Montreal Canadiens, where he played until the 2005-2006 season.

For the 2006-2007 season, the Montreal Canadiens traded Richard Zednik back to the Washington Capitals, where he played the majority of the season. The Washington Capitals again traded Richard Zednik after 32 games to the New York Islanders, where he finished out the season. The following 2007-2008 season, Richard Zednik signed with the Florida Panthers, where he has been since then. In 2009, he announced that he had signed with the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, a team in the Kontinental Hockey League (which replaced the Russian Super League).

As stated before, Richard Zednik is very famous for an accident he had in 2008. In a game against the Buffalo Sabres, one of Zednik's teammates tripped over a Sabres players and accidentally cut Zednik's carotid artery with his skate blade. Zednik immediately started bleeding and headed over to the Panther's bench, where he was attended to by the medical professionals on staff at the arena until he could be taken to a nearby hospital. Zednik had surgery that night and was stable the next day, but due to his injury, had to stay out the rest of the season. The game stopped for about 20 minutes, the time it took for the Zamboni to remove all the blood from the ice, but resumed once it was announced that Zednik would be okay. Richard Zednik stated that he now plans to wear a neck guard, even though they are not mandatory for NHL players.

ref-www.nhl.com