Filip Kuba

Czech ice hockey player (born 1976)

Ice hockey player

Filip Kuba

Kuba with the Ottawa Senators in 2011

Born|  (1976-12-29) December 29, 1976 (age 47)
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Height|  6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight|  226 lb (103 kg; 16 st 2 lb)
Position|  Defense
Shot|  Left
Played for|  HC Vitkovice
Florida Panthers
Minnesota Wild
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ottawa Senators
National team|  Czech Republic
NHL draft|  192nd overall, 1995
Florida Panthers
Playing career|  1995-2013

Medal record

Representing  Czech Republic
Ice hockey
Winter Olympics
|  2006 | Turin
World Championships
| 2001 | Germany

Kuba with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Filip Kuba (born December 29, 1976) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenseman. Kuba most recently played for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Ottawa Senators of the NHL.

## Playing career

[edit]

Kuba was drafted in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers in the 8th round, 192nd overall, after playing with HC Vítkovice junior team in his native Czech Republic. Upon being drafted, he remained in the Czech Republic for one more season, playing with HC Vítkovice's senior team of the Czech Extraliga.

Moving to North America, he played the majority of his four seasons with the Panthers in the minor leagues before being traded to the Calgary Flames for Rocky Thompson on March 16, 2000.[1] Before the 2000–01 season began, Kuba was left unprotected by the Flames for the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft and was claimed by the Minnesota Wild.[2]

He played his first full NHL season with the Wild in the subsequent season and recorded 9 goals and 30 points. In 2003, the Wild advanced to the playoff semifinals, defeating division rivals Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks before falling to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in four games. Kuba set career playoff marks, appearing in 18 games and scoring 8 points during Minnesota's run. After five seasons with the Wild, he became an unrestricted free agent and on July 1, 2006, he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He left the Wild as the franchise's all-time leader in scoring among defensemen with 33 goals and 132 points in 357 games. During his time with Minnesota, he was named team captain on two occasions, in November 2001 and November 2005,[3][4] as part of the Wild's monthly rotating captaincy system. Kuba represented the Wild along with teammate Dwayne Roloson in the 2004 All-Star game.

In 2006–07, his first season with Tampa Bay, he recorded a career-high 15 goals, 22 assists and 37 points. On August 29, 2008, Kuba was traded to the Ottawa Senators, along with Alexandre Picard and San Jose's first-round draft pick for defenseman Andrej Meszaros.[5]

With Ottawa, Kuba broke an NHL record for defensemen with an assist on October 25, 2008, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving him at least one point in each of the team's first eight games of the season. The previous best was set in 1981–82 by Brad Park, who recorded a point in each of the Boston Bruins' first seven games.[6]

On July 1, 2012, Kuba returned to his original draft team, the Florida Panthers, signing a two-year contract worth $8 million.[7] In the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, Kuba was unable to live up to his contract registering 10 points in 44 games for the cellar-dwelling Panthers. On July 3, 2013, Kuba was bought out from the remaining year of his deal with the Panthers.[8]

## International play

[edit]

Kuba played his first game for the national team in 2001, and has played 30 times for the Czech national team (as of Jan 3 2009)[9]

Played for the Czech Republic in:

* 2001 World Championships (gold)
* 2002 World Championships
* 2006 Winter Olympics (bronze)
* 2008 World Championships
* 2010 Czech Republic Olympic hockey team

## Career statistics

[edit]

### Regular season and playoffs

[edit]

|  | Regular season |  | Playoffs

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Season | Team  | League  | GP  | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM
1994–95  | HC Vítkovice | CZE U20  | 35  | 10  | 15  | 25  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1995–96 | HC Vítkovice  | ELH | 18  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 2  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1996–97 | Carolina Monarchs | AHL | 51  | 0  | 12  | 12  | 38  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1997–98 | Beast of New Haven | AHL  | 77  | 4  | 13  | 17  | 58  | 3  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 0
1998–99 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 5  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 0  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1998–99 | Kentucky Thoroughblades | AHL  | 45  | 2  | 8  | 10  | 33  | 10  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 4
1999–2000 | Florida Panthers  | NHL  | 13  | 1  | 5  | 6  | 2  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
1999–2000 | Houston Aeros | IHL | 27  | 3  | 6  | 9  | 13  | 11  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4
2000–01 | Minnesota Wild | NHL  | 75  | 9  | 21  | 30  | 28  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2001–02 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 62  | 5  | 19  | 24  | 32  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2002–03 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 78  | 8  | 21  | 29  | 29  | 18  | 3  | 5  | 8  | 24
2003–04 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 77  | 5  | 19  | 24  | 44  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2005–06 | Minnesota Wild  | NHL  | 65  | 6  | 19  | 25  | 44  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2006–07 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL  | 81  | 15  | 22  | 37  | 36  | 6  | 1  | 4  | 5  | 4
2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning  | NHL  | 75  | 6  | 25  | 31  | 40  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2008–09 | Ottawa Senators | NHL  | 71  | 3  | 37  | 40  | 28  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2009–10 | Ottawa Senators  | NHL  | 53  | 3  | 25  | 28  | 28  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2010–11 | Ottawa Senators  | NHL  | 64  | 2  | 14  | 16  | 16  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2011–12 | Ottawa Senators  | NHL  | 73  | 6  | 26  | 32  | 26  | 7  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 10
2012–13 | HC Vítkovice Steel  | ELH  | 11  | 0  | 4  | 4  | 10  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
2012–13 | Florida Panthers  | NHL  | 44  | 1  | 9  | 10  | 24  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
NHL totals  | 836  | 70  | 263  | 333  | 361  | 31  | 4  | 11  | 15  | 38

### International

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Event  |  | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM

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2001 | Czech Republic | WC | 9  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 8
2002 | Czech Republic  | WC  | 7  | 0  | 3  | 3  | 18
2006 | Czech Republic  | OG | 8  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0
2008 | Czech Republic  | WC  | 7  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4
2010 | Czech Republic  | OG  | 5  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 0
Senior totals  | 36  | 3  | 7  | 10  | 30

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "March 16, 2000 Transactions". CNN Sports Illustrated. 2000-03-16. Archived from the original on January 8, 2003. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
2. ^ "2000 NHL Expansion Draft List". CNN Sports Illustrated. 2000-06-23. Archived from the original on August 29, 2000. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
3. ^ "Kings' Robitaille out 2-4 weeks with broken leg". ESPN. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
4. ^ "Kuba gets promotion to captain". 2001-11-03. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
5. ^ "Sens trade Meszaros". The Globe and Mail. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
6. ^ "Gerber, Auld, now Elliott gets to show his stuff after call-up". CANOE. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-27.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. ^ "Panthers add free agents Kuba, Parros; Re-up Clemmensen". The Sports Network. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
8. ^ "Panthers clear roster spot; Buy out Kuba". The Sun Sentinel. 2013-07-03. Archived from the original on July 7, 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
9. ^ Stats at hokej.cz Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (in Czech)

## External links

[edit]

* Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by

Jim Dowd

|  Minnesota Wild team captain
November 2001 | Succeeded by

Brad Brown

|
|

Preceded by

Alex Henry

|  Minnesota Wild team captain
November 2005 | Succeeded by

Willie Mitchell