Robert Schnabel is a Czech professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenceman. He was drafted by the New York Islanders

New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 in round 3, #79 overall, of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft

1997 NHL Entry Draft

The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 21 June 1997.-Selections by round:Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.- Round one :-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:...

 and again by the Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....

 in round 5, #129 overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft

1998 NHL Entry Draft

The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted.- Selections by round :Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.- Round one :- Round two :...

.

Schnabel is a product of Slavia Praha in the Czech league. After several seasons in North America, including 22 NHL

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 games for the Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

, Schnabel returned to Europe to represent first his hometown team in Prague and then HIFK

HIFK (ice hockey)

HIFK is an ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall. It was founded in 1897...

 in the Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 SM-liiga

SM-liiga

The SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...

. In January 2007 Schnabel's contract with HIFK was terminated upon arrival of Billy Tibbetts

Billy Tibbetts

Billy Tibbetts is a professional hockey player who last played with the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL. He is currently an unrestricted free agent.-ECHL:...

, as the SM-liiga only allows a team to dress four foreign-born players per game, and Tibbets was HIFK's fifth foreign player. Schnabel was subsequently signed by Jokerit

Jokerit

Jokerit is an ice-hockey team from Helsinki, Finland, playing in the Finnish Elite League, SM-liiga. The team has won 6 league championships...

 of the same league. He played for HC Mlada Boleslav on loan from HC Rabat Kladno.

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