Former Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Nosek began his NHL career in Hockeytown. Now, it appears that he will conclude his playing days in Hockeytown.
The 33-year-old center/left-winger is returning to his homeland to play for HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga. Like Detroit, in Czechia, the East Bohemian city is also known as Hockeytown.
“Until the last moment, I expected to be in America,” Nosek said on the Pardubice YouTube channel.
Nosek played 12 seasons in North America, appearing in 514 NHL games. Nosek spent the past two seasons with the Florida Panthers, winning a Stanley Cup in 2024-25.
He began his elite-level hockey career in the youth ranks with Pardubice, eventually playing three seasons with the senior club from 2011-14.
“It’s almost unreal,” Nosek said. “A lot has happened in that time. I’ve had two children.
I’m now a father.
“Back then I was young and inexperienced. Now it’s something else. Maybe more experienced and wiser.
“I hope I haven’t changed as such. Maybe I’m coming back as the same boy… Or man.”
Nosek Started With Red Wings
Undrafted, Nosek signed with the Red Wings in the summer of 2014. He spent the 2014-15 season, his first in North America, with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s top farm club.
His NHL debut came with Detroit during the 2015-16 season. Nosek played his first 17 NHL games and scored his first NHL goal for the Red Wings. He was lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
Nosek will join Pardubice, the reigning Czech Extraliga champions, when the team opens training camp on August 17. In the meantime, he must relocate his life.
“I still have to fly to America and pack because we have nothing at home,” Nosek said. “We are returning for the summer with only one suitcase.
“I don’t even have winter clothes here.”
In his homeland, the belief is that Nosek may be the most decorated player of any Czech NHLer. Along with his Stanley Cup inscription, he also won Eastern (Florida Panthers) and Western Conference (Vegas Golden Knights) playoff titles. With the Boston Bruins in 2022-23, Nosek was part of a Presidents’ Trophy-winning squad.
He even won an AHL Calder Cup title with the Griffins in 2016-17.