About Ladislav Benýšek
Ladislav Benýšek (born March 25, 1975) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 161 games in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild between 1997 and 2003. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2013, was mainly spent in various European leagues. Internationally Benýšek played for the Czech national team at three World Championships, winning gold in both 1999 and 2000. == Career == Benýšek was selected by the Oilers in the 11th round of the 1994 NHL entry draft, 266th overall, after spending the previous season with his hometown HC Olomouc of the Czech league. Following the draft, Benýšek came over to North America, and spent the 1994–95 season with the Cape Breton Oilers, Edmonton's American Hockey League farm team. Benýšek returned to Europe for the next two seasons, playing for Olomouc and Sparta Praha. Electing to again spend a season in North America, Benýšek played his first NHL hockey in the 1997–98 season, going pointless in two games. Aside from that brief stint, however, Benýšek was again confined to the AHL, where he played for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Despite eventually being claimed in the 1999 NHL Waiver Draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Benýšek would spend the next three seasons back with Sparta Praha. It was not until the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft, when the newly formed Minnesota Wild selected Benýšek from the Ducks that he got the opportunity to play regular minutes.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.