Tomáš Vokoun Information & Tomáš Vokoun Links at HealthHaven.com

	Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey

Born	July 2, 1976 (age 33),; Karlovy Vary, CZE
Height; Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m); 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Right
NHL team; F. teams	Florida Panthers; Nashville Predators; Montreal Canadiens
Ntl. team	Czech Republic
NHL Draft	226th overall, 1994; Montreal Canadiens
Pro career	1995 – present

Tomáš Vokoun (pronounced Tom-ahsh Vo-koon; born July 2, 1976) is Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

[edit] Playing career

Vokoun was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 226th overall. He spent the next year with Poldi Kladno in the Czech Republic.

He moved to America for the 1995–96 season and played for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He was also called up to play for Fredericton Canadiens of the American Hockey League (AHL) for a playoff game. Having proven himself in the ECHL, Vokoun spent the 1996–97 season with Fredericton and played in one game in the NHL, for Montreal. His one game for Montreal was not a particularly stellar performance as he gave up four goals in only twenty minutes.

After another season with Fredericton, Vokoun was chosen by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft on June 26, 1998.

Vokoun played 37 games for Nashville in their debut season and played nine games for the Milwaukee Admirals in the International Hockey League (IHL). Although, he again split time between the two clubs in the following season, by 2000, Vokoun was in the NHL to stay. However, he saw only limited action as the backup to Mike Dunham. In 2002, Dunham was traded to the New York Rangers for Marek Židlický, Tomáš Klouček and Rem Murray, and Vokoun was awarded the starting job.

Vokoun acquitted himself well when given the chance to start, and he shouldered a heavy load for the Predators. His play was good enough in the 2003–04 NHL season to send him to the All-Star Game for the first time. Possibly more important to Vokoun, though, was the chance to go to the playoffs, and the Predators earned their first trip in 2004. Although the Predators lost in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs, they surprised many by giving the Red Wings more of a challenge than expected. In games three and four, both played in Nashville, Vokoun awed spectators with his performance netting the first-ever playoff shutout in franchise history by stopping 41 Red Wing shots.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Vokoun played 19 regular season games for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish SM-liiga, with a 93.96 saves percentage. In the playoffs, Vokoun did not perform as well, having an 84.62 saves percentage in four games—the worst in the league in that year's playoffs.

Vokoun playing for the Nashville Predators

Nevertheless, Vokoun's emergence as one of the world's elite goaltenders has even earned his picture being placed on the cover of Nashville's city directory. Furthermore, he was a fan favorite—during home games at the Sommet Center, when he made a save, the Predators fans in attendance would give a loud chant of "VOO-KOOOON!" emanating from all areas of the arena.

On April 10, 2006, the Predators announced that Vokoun was afflicted by thrombophlebitis of the pelvis, a blood-clotting condition. He missed the team's remaining regular season games and the entire playoffs while he recovered by taking blood-thinning drugs and avoiding physical activity. [1] Backup goalie Chris Mason took his place as the starter, but the Predators failed to advance in the playoffs, again losing the quarterfinals. On July 24, 2006, Vokoun was cleared to resume his career and returned for the 2006–07 NHL season. [2]

In the beginning 2006–07 NHL season, Vokoun hurt his thumb during a game and had to have surgery. Pins were put in this thumb, and he plays with the pins and a brace on his thumb. On the day of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Vokoun was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (no. 58) and a conditional second-round selection in either 2007 or 2008.

Vokoun was selected to play for the Eastern Conference team in the 2008 NHL All Star Game in Atlanta.

During the 2008–09 NHL season, Vokoun recorded 26 wins for the Panthers as they battled for their first playoff berth since 2000. Though they ultimately fell short, the Panthers' being in position to qualify was due in large part to the goaltending of Vokoun and fellow goaltender Craig Anderson.

Vokoun was injured by teammate Keith Ballard in a game on Monday, November 30 when Ballard hit Vokoun with an errant stick in the head. Vokoun was carried off the ice on a stretcher and was treated at a nearby hospital for an ear laceration. Vokoun had just given up a goal to Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers and Ballard went to break his stick on the goal post in frustration, but caught Vokoun instead.

[edit] Awards

Runner-up for the NHL Rookie of the Month award for December 1998.
NHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 2, 2000 (3–0–0, 1 shutout, 1.33 Goals Against Average (GAA), .960 save percentage; he is the first Predator to ever win this award).
NHL Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending November 30, 2003 (4–0–0, 1.50 GAA, .950 save percentage).
Selected to play for the Western Conference in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game.
Selected to play for the Eastern Conference in the 2008 NHL All-Star Game.

[edit] Records

Each of the below records are current as of the end of the 2005–06 NHL season.

Nashville Predators franchise single-season record for wins (36)
Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for wins (134)
Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for losses (147)
Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for goaltender appearances (340)
Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for consecutive games

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season


Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	T	OTL	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1993–94	Kladno	Czech	1	0	0	0	0	20	2	0	6.00	—
1994–95	Kladno	Czech	26	—	—	—	—	1368	70	—	3.07	—
1995–96	Wheeling Thunderbirds	ECHL	35	20	10	2	0	1912	117	0	3.67	.881
1996–97	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	20	4	0	12.00	.714
1996–97	Fredericton Canadiens	AHL	47	12	26	7	0	2645	154	2	3.49	.902
1997–98	Fredericton Canadiens	AHL	31	13	13	2	0	1735	90	0	3.11	.907
1998–99	Nashville Predators	NHL	37	12	18	4	0	1954	96	1	2.95	.908
1998–99	Milwaukee Admirals	IHL	9	3	2	4	0	539	22	1	2.45	.920
1999–00	Nashville Predators	NHL	33	9	20	1	0	1879	87	1	2.78	.904
1999–00	Milwaukee Admirals	IHL	7	5	2	0	0	364	17	0	2.80	.921
2000–01	Nashville Predators	NHL	37	13	17	5	0	2088	85	2	2.44	.910
2001–02	Nashville Predators	NHL	29	5	14	4	0	1471	66	2	2.69	.903
2002–03	Nashville Predators	NHL	69	25	31	11	0	3974	146	3	2.20	.918
2003–04	Nashville Predators	NHL	73	34	29	10	0	4221	178	3	2.53	.909
2004–05	HIFK Helsinki	SM-liiga	19	11	4	4	0	1149	35	2	1.83	.940
2005–06	Nashville Predators	NHL	61	36	18	0	7	3600	160	4	2.67	.919
2006–07	Nashville Predators	NHL	44	27	12	0	4	2601	104	5	2.40	.920
2007–08	Florida Panthers	NHL	69	30	29	0	8	4030	180	4	2.68	.919
2008–09	Florida Panthers	NHL	59	26	23	0	6	3324	138	6	2.49	.926
NHL totals			512	217	211	35	25	29,163	1244	31	2.56	.915

[edit] Postseason


Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1994–95	Kladno	Czech	5	--	--	240	19	--	4.75
1995–96	Wheeling	ECHL	7	4	3	436	19	0	2.61
1995–96	Fredericton	AHL	1	0	1	59	4	0	4.09
1998–99	Milwaukee	IHL	2	0	2	149	8	0	3.22
2003–04	Nashville	NHL	6	2	4	355	12	1	2.02
2004–05	HIFK	SM-liiga	4	0	3	205	12	0	3.51
2006–07	Nashville	NHL	5	1	4	323	16	0	2.96
NHL totals			11	3	8	679	28	1	2.47

[edit] International play

Played for the Czech Republic in:

1994 World Junior Championships
1996 World Junior Championships
2004 World Championships
2004 World Cup of Hockey
2005 World Championships (gold medal)
2006 Olympic Games (bronze medal)

[edit] External links

Tomáš Vokoun's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

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