Playing Career
He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues as their seventh-round draft pick, #172 overall, in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.
Vopat started his playing career in his native Litvínov, before spending a season in the Western Hockey League with the Moose Jaw Warriors, joining the Blues' IHL affiliate the Peoria Rivermen for their playoff run during the 1994–95 season. He then joined the St. Louis organization the next season but was sent back to Moose Jaw for further development, he later moved to the Prince Albert Raiders.
On February 27, 1996, Vopat, along with Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif and two draft picks were traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Los Angeles Kings for Wayne Gretzky. After three seasons in LA, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Eric Lacroix, but never played a game for the Avalanche as he was then traded to the Chicago Blackhawks less than a month later. After three games with Chicago he was traded once more to the Philadelphia Flyers for Mike Maneluk.
At the start of the 1999–2000, Vopat was sent to the Flyers' AHL affiliate the Philadelphia Phantoms, which marked the end of his NHL career. After just 12 games, he spent the rest of the season with the Essen Mosquitoes of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany. Vopat then played five seasons in Finland's SM-liiga, for Pelicans, Ilves, and HIFK. In 2005 he returned to the Czech Republic with HC Sparta Praha but then returned to Finland, this time signing a contract with Jokerit, HIFK's local archrival. In 2006, he moved to Sweden and signed with Leksands who play in the country second tier league.
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