SAIL ON, HC SKODA PLZEN (CAR, PILSNER)
He came to us in January of 2006, and he played his heart out all spring. Jaroslav Spacek was a man on the backline (55, 8-25-33 E, including playoffs) after coming over from the Windy City for Tony Salmelainen.
Sail on, man from the home of Pilsner. You were with us for such a short time, and we have such fond memories. God bless, live well.
What a great trade picking him up. All for a bargain basement price at that. We could use a few of those.
Peca, Staios, Spacek all memories. Only Horc left. What a fine, fine squad that was.
And Hemsky, and Smyth (with an asterisk).
(Edit: Oh, you meant from that photograph. Right.)
I remember a story during the playoffs about how Spacek was all hot to re-sign with the Oilers. Not sure if that was just diplomacy speaking, if he changed his mind after the Pronger fiasco, whether management bungled it all up, or whether Buffalo just made an offer he couldn’t refuse…one way or another, his departure is what, for me, transformed the spring of 2006 from one kick in the nuts (the Pronger trade) to proof that everything put together sooner or later falls apart (thanks, Paul Simon).
(His name is also the source of what may be the nerdiest pun I’ve ever made. Get me drunk sometime and I’ll tell you about it.)
"Steve Smith",
Just make sure you don’t get stopped in a spot-check.
That happened to me once, but I was given clearance because my son was trying a special Euro salve and needed immediate medical attention.
justDOit,
I’m more concerned about the Czech stops, personally.
Gene Principe is rolling in his grave.
Jaro all crazy
One time I went on vacation with Spacek, but he kept phoning the office the whole time. “Jaroslav to the grind, buddy,” I said sadly.
I didn’t know much about Spacek before the trade, but he was probably my favourite Oiler defender during the run. Pronger was a machine, but he was expected to be. Spacek seemed to come out of no where and was always moving the puck in the right direction, always playing hard, always playing tough.
It’s too bad he left. Sorry to see him go.
I was on tour in Afghanistan when the 05-06 Season start, so I didn’t have an opportunity to watch much of the season (returned in mid-Feb). The one thing that really stood out amongst the blue of that season for me was Spacek’s incredible ability to keep the puck in the offensive zone. I have never seen a d-man so good at keeping the puck in, it was often jaw-dropping to me.