Tomas Vokoun
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Tomas Vokoun (born July 2, 1976 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic) is a professional hockey player.
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Overview
Tomas 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 1995-1996 season, though, and played for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He was also called up to play for Fredericton Canadiens of the AHL for a playoff game. Having proved himself in the ECHL, Tomas spent the 1996-1997 with Fredricton, and got to play in a 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, Tomas was chosen by the Nashville Predators in the Expansion Draft on June 26, 1998.
Tomas played 37 games for Nashville in their debut season, in addition to playing 9 games for the Milwaukee Admirals in the IHL. Although he again split time between the two clubs in the following season, by 2000, Tomas was in the NHL for good. However, he only saw limited action as the backup to Mike Dunham. In 2002, Dunham was traded to the New York Rangers for Marek Zidlicky, Tomas Kloucek, and Rem Murray, and Vokoun was awarded the starting job.
Vokoun acquitted himself well when given the chance to start, and 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 Tomas, though, was the chance to go to the playoffs, and the Predators earned their first trip in 2004. Although the Predators lost 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, Tomas wowed spectators with his performance netting the first ever playoff shutout in franchise history by stopping 41 Red Wing's shots.
During the 04-05 NHL lockout Vokoun played 19 regular season games for HIFK Helsinki with a 93,96% saves percentage. In the playoffs Vokoun didn't perform that well having a 84,62% saves percentage in 4 games.
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 G.A.A., .960 save percentage). He was 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 G.A.A., .950 save percentage).
- Selected to play for the Western Conference in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game.
Records
- Nashville Predators franchise season record for wins (34).
- Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for wins (98).
- Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for goaltender appearances (278).
- Nashville Predators franchise all-time record for consecutive games.
Career Statistics
Regular Season
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993--94 | Kladno | Czech | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 6.00 |
| 1994--95 | Kladno | Czech | 26 | -- | -- | -- | 1368 | 70 | -- | 3.07 |
| 1995--96 | Wheeling | ECHL | 35 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 1912 | 117 | 0 | 3.67 |
| 1996--97 | Montreal | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 12.00 |
| 1996--97 | Fredericton | AHL | 47 | 12 | 26 | 7 | 2645 | 154 | 2 | 3.49 |
| 1997--98 | Fredericton | AHL | 31 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 1735 | 90 | 0 | 3.11 |
| 1998--99 | Nashville | NHL | 37 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 1954 | 96 | 1 | 2.95 |
| 1998--99 | Milwaukee | IHL | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 539 | 22 | 1 | 2.45 |
| 1999--00 | Nashville | NHL | 33 | 9 | 20 | 1 | 1879 | 87 | 1 | 2.78 |
| 1999--00 | Milwaukee | IHL | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 364 | 17 | 0 | 2.80 |
| 2000--01 | Nashville | NHL | 37 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 2088 | 85 | 2 | 2.44 |
| 2001--02 | Nashville | NHL | 29 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 1471 | 66 | 2 | 2.69 |
| 2002--03 | Nashville | NHL | 69 | 25 | 31 | 11 | 3974 | 146 | 3 | 2.20 |
| 2003--04 | Nashville | NHL | 73 | 34 | 29 | 10 | 4221 | 178 | 3 | 2.53 |
| NHL CAREER TOTALS | 279 | 98 | 129 | 35 | 15606 | 662 | 12 | 2.55 | ||
Post Season
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | 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 | 356 | 12 | 1 | 2.02 | |
| NHL Totals | 6 | 2 | 4 | 356 | 12 | 1 | 2.02 | |||
International Play
- Played for the Czech Republic at the 2005 IIHF World Championships, claimed the trophy for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. His strong play included shutting out Team Canada in the championship game.
- Played for the Czech Republic at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
- Played for the Czech Republic at the 2004 IIHF World Championships in the Czech Republic. He had a very strong tournament with a 1.14 G.A.A. and two shutouts.
- Played for the Czech Republic in the 2003 IIHF World Championships in Finland.
- Played for the Czech Republic at the 1996 World Junior Championships.sk:Tomáš Vokoun