By Budd Bailey
Dominik Hasek was on the top of the hockey world after winning a gold medal in 1998 for Czechoslovakia. It’s not well remembered that one of his teammates on that team eventually came to Buffalo and suited up for the Sabres … for a game.
Moravec was born in that country and joined Vitkovice HC in the summer of 1994. The left winger’s numbers became better and better as the seasons piled up, but he was at his best in 1997-98. He posted a career-high in goals with 38 and assists with 26 in 51 games. In the Olympics he finished with one assist in six games, but that was good to take home a gold medal.
By the time the summer of 1998 rolled around, someone noticed that Moravec had never been drafted. Maybe on a tip from Hasek or countryman Richard Smehlik, Buffalo picked him in the eighth round of the Entry Draft (No. 218 overall). That was two picks after Montreal chose defenseman Michael Ryder, who piled up 806 games in a long career.
Moravec didn’t arrive in Buffalo until the fall of 2009. He was good enough to make the opening night roster on October 2, and had no points in about 15 minutes of ice time in a 2-0 loss to Detroit. Moravec was given the unusual number of 64. But he didn’t play after that, and within two weeks he was given the choice of reporting to the Sabres’ minor-league affiliate in Rochester or returning to Czechoslavkia. David took the latter, and his time in Buffalo was over.
Moravec played for Vitkovice through the 2002-23 season, and then did some bouncing around. He spent time in Russia, Sweden and Slovakia in addition to some time back in his home country. David’s last appearance in pro hockey came in the 2010-11 season with Nitra MHC of the Slovak league.
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