Nedved leaves NHL behind

Petr Nedved will leave the NHL to play next season with Sparta Prague in the Czech Extraliga, the team announced on Thursday.

A knee injury finished the 35-year-old Czech-born center's 2006-2007 season with Edmonton Oilers and he became an unrestricted free agent.

"Petr will be a huge attraction for our fans and, thanks to his wealth of experience in the NHL, we expect he will take on a lot of responsibility (for our club)," Sparta general manager Petr Briza said on the Web site (www.hcsparta.cz).

The 2006-2007 NHL campaign was disappointing for the second overall pick in the 1990 NHL entry draft, as Nedved scored only two goals and had 10 assists.

In 982 games, Nedved scored 310 goals and had 407 assists in spells with seven NHL teams.

During a labor dispute that wiped out the 2004-2005 NHL season, Nedved played for Sparta, notching 22 goals and 13 assists in 46 games.