Former NHL player Jan Hlavac adjusting and getting set with his new team HC Kladno in Czech Republic
Jan Hlavac, a professional ice hockey player and forward who previously played for six different National Hockey League (NHL) teams, is now getting adjusted at his new team, HC Kladno in his native country Czech Republic.
Hlavac, 35 years old, started his hockey career at HC Sparta in Prague, the side where he developed as a player. He played for their junior and the senior’s side and got a call from Czech Republic junior team playing in the same side.
Next year he represented Czech Republic in Under-20 World Junior Championships and then their senior’s team in 1997-1998 in World Championship of ice hockey.
1998-1999 season was his best in the league as he scored the highest number of points in a single season by scoring 33 goals, 20 assists, 53 total points in 49 games. This was also a very special year for him as he played a great role in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship where he scored five goals, five assists, 10 total points to win the championship for his country.
The Prague resident moved to Northern America in the following year as his performance was caught by the eyes of NHL teams. He made his NHL debut for New York Rangers and played there for two seasons, before moving to Philadelphia Flyers and then Vancouver Canucks. Carolina Hurricanes was next stop for him, before a move back to New York Rangers.
The 6-foot-0, 200 pounder spent his final season at Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators. In 2008-2009 season he moved to Linkopings HC in Sweden and stayed there until his most recent move to HC Kladno.
Hlavac is very happy to be at Kladno and talking to the team’s official website he said,
“Last year I was very happy in Kladno and I liked it here. So we agreed to come back again and I think both sides are happy. I watched Czech TV regularly, whenever I could grab it, when I was in Sweden. I saw a lot of (Czech league) games and I think that people here in Kladno had to be happy with the Knights' results. It was a good year for them”.
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