Petr Nedv%C4%9Bd
Petr Nedvd is a Czech Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spentseasons in the National Hockey League . Most recently he played centre for HC Bl Tygi Liberec of the Czech Extraliga.
Nedvd was born in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to Jaroslav and Soa Nedvd. He left Czechoslovakia as a refugee on January 2, 1989 at the age ofafter playing in an international midget tournament in Calgary. Nedvd was the star of the tournament, withgoals and nine assists. He decided to defect to Canada because of the limited opportunities in Czechoslovakia under communist rule, which was very strict regarding athletes leaving the country to pursue professional careers elsewhere. He did not tell his parents about the decision, and withand the help of another Czech who defected, whom Nedvd refuses to identify even today, he declared his defection at a Calgary police station. In an interview in the Newark Star Ledger, Nedvd said that the fear of regret was the overriding reason to defect. For ten months until the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in the Velvet Revolution, Nedvds parents were forced to make calls imploring Nedvd to come home.
Source: Wikipedia