Two IIHF World Junior Championships, 12 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, one World Cup of Hockey and one Olympic Winter Games. At the 2006 IIHF WM, with the Czechs capturing the silver medal, Vyborny was named to the all-tournament team.
And, on 25 May, Vyborny became the 27th Czech hockey player inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. He joins Jaromir Jagr and Jaroslav Pouzar as the only Czechs to receive the honour in the past 10 years.
“It’s a recognition of all my work, of my entire hockey life,” says Vyborny. “I’m truly honored to be here among such legends. There are so many people who could be awarded like this. I’m just happy. And when you see the career highlights playing on the screen … I really appreciate it deeply.”
Many athletes will say it’s difficult to select top moments of a long and storied career and Vyborny is no different. He does, however, acknowledge the importance of two gold medals at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, during the NHL-lockout year in 2005 that saw extremely deep international teams battle for the title and his first of five world golds in 1996, which was the Czechs’ first championship since 1985, when the country was still Czechoslovakia (that country split in 1993 to form the two nations). Vyborny and the Czechs would win three golds in a row from 1999-2001, with his final gold coming in 2005.
“Which World Championship title do I remember the most? In 1996, I was just a rookie and we won the title after a long time,” he says. “But honestly, I could name all of them. 2005 as well — all the teams had stacked NHL rosters. Every title was special. Of course, I also experienced a lot of losses. I ended my national team career with a seventh place in Moscow. That wasn’t great.”
Vyborny’s path to greatness started with development in the Czech league with Sparta Praha. His initial exposure to international hockey came at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championship, when a young Vyborny turned heads, finishing third in tournament scoring with six goals and 15 points in seven games to lead the Czechs to the bronze medal. Vyborny’s totals were behind only Sweden’s Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund. The 1993 tournament followed a seven-game round-robin format and Vyborny’s finest moment may have come with a one goal and three-assist performance as the Czechs beat the United States 6-5. Czechia finished in third, one point ahead of fourth-place USA.
His fantastic world juniors vaulted him up the NHL Draft rankings and he was selected 33rd overall by the Edmonton Oilers at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
He spent the 1993-94 season with the Cape Breton Oilers (then Edmonton’s AHL farm team), posting great numbers with 23 goals and 61 points in 76 games but returned home for the 1995-96 season with Sparta Praha. After several seasons in Europe, Vyborny made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2000-01 season. He had a very respectable NHL career of 543 games (all with Columbus) in which Vyborny scored 113 goals and added 204 assists for 317 points. That included back-to-back 60-plus point seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Vyborny would finish his career in Czechia from 2008-09 to 2015-16, three seasons with Sparta and three with Mlada Boleslav BK.
It is his IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships prowess, though, that may be most remembered as Vyborny played in every worlds between 1996 and 2007 (12 in a row), where he won five gold medals, one silver and two bronze. Vyborny played in 104 games at the worlds, good for 12th most all-time and currently holds the record for most games played for Czech’s national team (218).
“Yes, it’s true I still hold the record for the most games played for the national team,” says Vyborny. “But Roman Cervenka (215 games) might overtake me next year if he keeps playing, and I’d be happy for him. Based on how he played this year, I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting there.”
Whether Cervenka breaks the record or not, Vyborny will always have his place in Czech hockey history – and a spot in the IIHF Hall of Fame.