Highlighting an unsung hero: Jiri Hrdina

Jiri Hrdina

Season after season goes by in the National Hockey League. As a decade or two passes, players that were once household names, at least casually, are often long forgotten when their playing days end and new favorites quickly take their places in the daily conversations of the hometown fans. Though most of these players are not within the Hall of Fame, may never have been on an All-Star team, nor do they hold any league or team records, their accomplishments during their careers may in fact hail them as unsung heroes. Players who made a difference with the way that they played hockey, but have been overshadowed by the game's truly great players. Still, as unsung as they may be, they did make a difference.

Case in point is former Calgary Flame and Pittsburgh Penguin, Jiri Hrdina. During a time when only a handful of Czech-born players skated the NHL arenas of North-America, and certainly no Soviet-born players as of yet, Jiri Hrdina made his NHL debut at the age of 29 as one of the very few players in Western-hemisphere hockey to hail from the Eastern-bloc. This was still a short time before the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Dominik Hasek, Petr Nedved and a larger influx of players from Czechoslovakia (later to be separate countries of Czech Republic and Slovakia) would make their country a breeding ground for highly talented hockey superstars who would run rampant in the NHL on an ongoing basis. Jiri Hrdina would join the NHL and the Calgary Flames during the 1987-88 season.

Born in one of the World's most beautiful and most remarkable cities, Prague in the former Czechoslovakia, Hrdina's successes in the NHL in a relatively short career are remarkable in and of themselves. After debuting with the Flames for a mere nine games in '87-'88, in which he scored 2-goals and added 5-assists for 7-points (along with 1-playoff game that year as well), Hrdina would only play in four full NHL seasons from 1988 through 1992. In three of those four seasons though, Hrdina would win Stanley Cup Championships. There is likely no other player in NHL history with a better percentage of championships compared to the number of seasons played. Yet there is little to no mention of Hrdina's noteworthy accomplishment amongst hockey circles these days.

Hrdina was a very solid two-way player throughout his career. As a versatile centerman, Hrdina excelled in his own end of the ice and also contributed offensively against the opposition. Coming to the NHL at 29, Hrdina's best years were likely spent while still playing in his homeland and playing on the international stage. While with Team Czechoslovakia in 1984, Hrdina helped lead his team to a Silver Medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Likewise, Hrdina medaled with Team Czechoslovakia on five separate occasions at the World Championships of hockey, winning gold in 1985, a silver in 1982 and 1983, and bronze medals in 1987 and 1990. By the time Hrdina made the jump to North-America he was already a very well accomplished and decorated hockey player.

Hrdina playing with Calgary Flames
Alumni during the Heritage Classic.

With his track record of Stanley Cup championships, Hrdina's success with winning obviously continued throughout his career in the NHL. Hrdina's finest season came during the Calgary Flames' championship season of 1988-89. This would be Hrdina's first full season in the NHL and he registered 22-goals, 32-assists for 54-points in 70-regular season games; a fine performance for a first full season in the league. Though Hrdina was certainly instrumental in bringing the Stanley Cup to Calgary, his contributions are much in the backdrop when considering that Hockey Hall of Fame players Lanny McDonald, Doug Gilmour, Al MacInnis, Joe Mullen and Joe Nieuwendyk were members in the forefront of that championship team, along with all-star players Theoren Fleury, Brad McCrimmon, Gary Roberts, Gary Suter, Mike Vernon, Hakan Loob and Rob Ramage. With so many big names and so much talent on one hockey club, it is not really surprising that Hrdina's contributions to that championship team were overlooked.

The 1989-90 NHL season would be the one season in which Hrdina did not win a Stanley Cup in his NHL career. Statistically, it would be his second-best season though, notching 12-goals and 30-points in 64-regular season games. While this Calgary Flames team was mostly comprised of the same players and staff from their championship team of the season prior, they would fail to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, losing in 6-games in the first-round of the playoffs to Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.

The next and final two seasons of Hrdina's career would bring him two more Stanley Cup championships, though this time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In December 1990, Hrdina would be traded from Calgary to Pittsburgh for tough-guy defenseman Jim Kyte. Considering Hrdina's skill and winning experience the deal was rather lopsided in more ways than one. In Pittsburgh Hrdina would find himself on the third or fourth line used mostly in a limited role, for like the Flames, the Penguins were laden with a vast array of talent including one of hockey's greatest players ever Mario Lemieux, along with an additional mix of Hall-of-Famers, future Hall-of-Famers, and other all-star players like Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Stevens, Tom Barrasso, Ron Francis, Bryan Trottier, Mark Recchi, Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and former teammate Joe Mullen.



Jiri Hrdina with the Pittsburgh Penguins -
brought in to tutor fellow countryman and
18-year old Jaromir Jagr.



Again, it is not any real wonder that Hrdina would be forgotten amongst a group of this calibre. However, at least one person would not forget Hrdina's impact on the team, as fellow Czech and upcoming superstar Jaromir Jagr would greatly benefit from his fellow countryman's guidance and tutelage during his rookie season in the NHL. At the time, Jagr was only 18-years old, and Hrdina, having lived in and played in North-America for a few seasons longer and being over 10-years Jagr's senior, would prove to be quite instrumental for adjusting the young Czech superstar to the NHL-brand of hockey, life in North-America and adopting the English language. Hrdina and Jagr would be nicknamed the "Czechmates"and suffice it to say that at least some of Jagr's outstanding success in hockey both globally and in the NHL can be attributed to Hrdina and the mentoring he provided during their two seasons in Pittsburgh together. The Penguins would go on to defeat the Minnesota North Stars in six-games of the Stanley Cup Finals that first season in Pittsburgh. Hrdina saw limited action in the Finals, only appearing in Game-3, but he played in 14 of Pittsburgh's 24-playoff games that season, record 2-goals and 2-assists in that stretch. Jagr would play in all 24-playoff games, registering 3-goals and 10-assists.

The 1991-92 season would be Jiri Hrdina's last in the NHL and would also see the Penguins repeat as Stanley Cup champions, this time defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight games. Hrdina would get his name enscribed on the Stanley Cup for the third and final time. He would also appear in all 21-games of the Penguins playoff run that season, picking up 2-assists along the way. Meanwhile, his "student" Jagr would become the youngest player in NHL history to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals at 20-years old, finishing the playoffs with 24-points in the 21-playoff games, and well on his way to super-stardom in the NHL. Hrdina would retire in 1992 after this last championship.

These days Hrdina busies himself as an amateur scout with the Dallas Stars. Though his playing days may be behind him, there are few players more celebrated as a champion than Jiri Hrdina. And while he was greatly "unsung" as a player perhaps mainly due to the fact that he was buried by a long list of some of the greatest players to ever play the game who happened to be his teammates, attention must be paid to the fact that he became a champion so frequently across such a short period of time. For his achievements and perenial championships, Jiri Hrdina should not be forgotten.