Another Czech Looks to Make His Mark - hockey players - Brief Article

AFTER SPURNING THE NHL for nearly a decade, Jiri Dopita has finally stopped playing hard to get.

After being drafted twice and having his rights dealt twice, the 6'3", 230-pound Dopita finally said yes to the league and signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.

But that was only after his team in the Czech Republic, Petra Vsetin, went bankrupt and his close friend, goalie Roman Cechmanek, enjoyed a standout first season with Flyers last year.

Over the last decade, the 32-year-old Dopita has developed a reputation as the best player in the world outside the NHL.

Flyers general manager Bob Clarke acquired Dopita's rights from the Florida Panthers on draft day in June for a second-round pick. Dopita was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round of the 1992 draft. In 1998, his rights went back into the draft pool, and the New York Islanders selected him in the fifth round.

A year later, the Isles traded his rights to the Panthers. The Panthers thought that with Slava Lener, Dopita's former Czech National team coach, on their staff, they could lure Dopita over, but after a year of pleading they gave up and dealt his rights to Clarke and the Flyers.

"Since we lost [Eric] Lindros, we have had a need for a big centerman, and this is a big talented centerman," Clarke says. "He's proven to be a great player in the world. Probably for the last 10 years, he's been the best player in Europe and for whatever reason hasn't come over."

The acquisition of Dopita was overlooked among Clarke's flurry of offseason moves. The Philly GM signed two coveted free agents, center Jeremy Roenick and blueliner Eric Weinrich, and then traded Lindros for 28-goal scorer Jan Hlavac and puck-carrying defenseman trim Johnsson. Dopita, who signed a two-year, $3.3 million deal, could be the best bargain of the lot.

Dopita has been compared to the New Jersey Devils' Bobby Holik, but with better hands. "He has played at an extremely high level and he will help Philadelphia a great deal," Florida president Bill Torrey says. "He is a steal for them."

Dopita's family situation was one reason he resisted playing in the NHL for so long. With a successful attorney for a wife and a young son, he simply didn't want to move. In the end though, Cechmanek's wife helped convince the Dopitas to leave Europe for the United States.

"He never had a need to come and he was happy with his situation," says Dopita's agent, Petr Svoboda. "I regret he wasn't here in 1992. He would be a $10 million player and superstar in the NHL now."

The Flyers thought enough of Dopita that before signing Roenick, they had him projected as their No. 2 center.

His European resume is that good. Dopita captained Vsetin for the last three years and averaged 24 goals in 49 games over his last five seasons. He was a valuable contributor on the Czech national team that won the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Dopita also starred for two years in Germany.

"He is just a very smart player," Philadelphia assistant general manager Paul Holmgren says. "He has a bit of a mean streak. He can be a handful for a defenseman in the corners or in front of the net."

Flyers coach Bill Barber loves Dopita's offensive potential. "His size, playmaking, and scoring ability are really rewarding for us," Barber says. "Centerman was our No. 1 need."

Dopita can only speak a few words of English, but he's been taking lessons. He's got a sympathetic ear and an ally in his former and current teammate Cechmanek, who was in the same position last year.

"Jiri is going to be in a country for the next nine months that he hasn't spent a whole lot of time before," Holmgren says. "He will have a friend and teammate with him the whole time."

COPYRIGHT 2001 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group