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Slovak Draftees Playing In The European Leagues
Written by: Daniel Kysel on 06/01/2001 
(Name, year of birth, position, last team - year of selection, NHL team, No. of pick)
British Superleague
Ivan Matulik (1968, F, Cardiff - 1986, Edmonton, #147) - skates in U.K. for several years yet. The NHL is closed chapter for him. Regular season 48GP 13 - 17 - 30 N/A 48 PIM Playoffs 6GP 2 - 1 - 3 N/A 33 PIMCzech Extraliga
Roman Kontsek (1970, F, Havirov - 1990, Washington, #135) - captain of the team helped to save Extraliga for Havirov but mediocre season. Regular season 43GP 7 - 13 - 20 +11 24PIM Playoffs 0GP 0 0 0 Martin Strbak (1975, D, Vsetin - 1993, Los Angeles, #224) - very good season with Czech champion team. Hey Kings, don't you need solid stay-at-home defenseman? Regular season 49GP 2 - 6 - 8 +6 46PIM Playoffs N/A World championship 6GP 0 - 1 - 1 +5 6PIM Jan Lipiansky (1974, F, Vsetin - 1994, Philadelphia, #270) - solid season but I don't think he will play on NHL ever. Regular season 49GP 12 - 11 - 23 +19 39PIM Playoffs 13GP 2 - 2 - 4 N/A Radovan Somik (1977, F, Zlin - 1995, Philadelphia, #100) - impressive rookie season on Czech Extraliga. Regular season 46GP 15 - 10 - 25 +18 22PIM Playoffs N/A World championship 6GP 0 - 0 - 0 -1 0PIM Robert Dome (1979, F, Kladno - 1997, Pittsburgh, #17) - shown some excellent game but some obscure ones as well. Strange guy. Regular season 34GP 9 - 15 - 24 0 57PIM Playoffs 0GP Tomas Harant (1980, D, Trinec - 2000, Nashville, #173) - has played just 15 games on first team, needs to show much more in next season. Regular season 15GP 1 - 2 - 3 -3 14PIM Playoffs 0GP Andrej Nedorost (1980, F, Plzen - 2000, Columbus, #286) - good season but interrupted by his injury. Solid NHL prospect. Good performance on national team as well. Regular season 33GP 10 - 8 - 18 +14 22PIM Playoffs 0GP World championship 4P 0 - 0 - 0 0 4PIMFinnish SM-Liiga
Radovan Kropac (1975, F, Jyvaskyla - 1994, N.Y.Rangers, #260 - the best of last three seasons but not good enough either for national team and especially for the NHL. Regular season 54GP 13 - 8 - 21 -12 32PIM Playoffs 0GP 0German DEL
Ivan Droppa (1972, D, Dusseldorf - 1990, Chicago, #37) - other solid season. Regular season 48GP 6 - 10 - 16 -11 50PIM Playoffs 0GP World championship 7GP 1 - 1 - 2 +1 16PIM Jergus Baca (1965, D, Oberhausen - 1990, Hartford, #141) - still one of the best stay-at-home defenseman on German league. Regular season 62GP 5 - 14 - 19 +6 121PIM Playoffs 2GP 0 - 0 - 0 -1 27PIM Ladislav Karabin (1970, F, Oberhausen - 1990, Pittsburgh, #173) - Solid season. Regular season 51GP 13 - 21 - 34 +5 84PIM Playoffs 3GP 2 - 1 - 3 +1 2PIM Lubomir Vaic (1977, F, Eisbaren Berlin - 1996, Vancouver, #227) - Due to injury he missed most of season. Regular season 26GP 1 - 6 - 7 -4 70PIM Playoffs 0GP 0Swedish Elite League
Robert Petrovicky (1973, F, MoDo - 1992, Hartford, #9) - Eleven games with Islanders but mostly on farm team in Chicago (IHL) and lately in Europe. The best Slovak player on world championship. Next season in Switzerland. Regular season 7GP 3 - 2 - 5 +2 10PIM World championship 7GP 4 - 2 - 6 +5 0PIM Vladimir Orszagh (1977, F, Djurgaden - 1995, N.Y.Islanders, #106) - Second-leading goal scorer in regular season and third one in the playoffs. No wonder Nashville offered him one-way contract for next season. Regular season 50GP 23 - 13 - 36 +17 62PIM World championship 7GP 2 - 5 - 7 +4 6PIM Rastislav Pavlikovsky (1977, F, HV 71 - 1998, Ottawa, #246) - started season in the minors but finished in Sweden. Regular season 23GP 6 - 8 - 14 -4 93PIM Playoffs 0GP 0Slovak Extraliga
Miroslav Ihnacak (1962, F, Kosice - 1982, Toronto, #171) - This veteran is still very valuable on Kosice's youngster team. Regular season 50GP 17 - 35 - 52 -9 34PIM Playoffs 3GP 0 - 1 - 1 0 6PIM Zdeno Ciger (1969, F, Slovan - 1988, New Jersey, #54) - No amazing season of this frustrated captain. Maybe he'll find his old shape on Minnesota in next season. Regular season 53GP 17- 32- 49 +17 22PIM Playoffs 8GP 6 - 3 - 9 +4 16PIM World championship 7GP 1 - 2 - 3 -1 2PIM Oto Hascak (1964, F, Trencin - 1989, Boston, #143) - Pretty good season after one and half year retirement. Big influence on his young team. Regular season 21GP 3 - 16 - 19 +1 52PIM Playoffs 12GP 2 - 5 - 7 +4 38PIM Lubomir Kolnik (1968, F, Slovan - 1990, New Jersey, #116) - Still solid stats but player of his caliber should dominate on the league. Regular season 56GP 28 - 24 - 52 +20 24PIM Playoffs 8GP 1 - 5 - 6 +4 0PIM Jozef Cierny (1974, F, Zvolen - 1992, Buffalo, #35) - obscure season. Sometimes big prospect but now he fades. Regular season 35GP 11 - 5 - 16 +14 42PIM Playoffs 8GP 1 - 1 - 2 +4 6PIM Rudolf Vercik (1976, F, Slovan - 1994, N.Y.Rangers, #52) - missed whole season due to injury. Regular season 0GP 0 Karol Bartanus (1978, F, Trencin - 1997, Boston, #81) - namby-pamby season. Regular season 37GP 12 - 9 - 21 -1 22PIM Playoffs 13GP 2 - 0 - 2 -2 10PIM Lubomir Pistek (1980, F, Slovan - 1998, Philadelphia, #222) - no miracles. Regular season 49GP 6 - 7 - 13 +15 34PIM Playoffs 7GP 3 - 2 - 5 +2 2PIM Michal Macho (1982, F, Martin - 2000, San Jose, #183) - Gifted kid, good rookie season and solid NHL prospect. Regular season 37GP 5 - 10 - 15 -5 12PIM Playoffs 3GP 1 - 1 - 2 -1 2PIM Marek Priechodsky (1979, D, Slovan - 2000, Tampa Bay, #222) - very obscure season. Regular season 44GP 0 - 5 - 5 +19 6PIM Playoffs 0GP 0 Peter Fabus (1979, F, Trencin - 2000, Phoenix, #281) - Excellent season, big progress and good NHL prospect. Regular season 52GP 31 - 22 - 53 +13 94PIM Playoffs 14GP 4 - 6 - 10 +4 60PIMSlovak Division I
Igor Liba (1960, F, Presov - 1983, Calgary, #91) - Solid season of this hard working veteran. Regular season 36GP 17 - 25 - 42 +23 6PIM Richard Safarik (1975, F, Zilina - 1993, Buffalo, #116) - good season but too far from the NHL. Regular season 39GP 11 - 38 - 49 +38 12PIM Matus Kostur (1980, G, Nitra - 2000, New Jersey, #164) - the best goalie of the league, good progress. Regular season 32GP 1837 min. 2,06GAA 0,913 Sav.%Curious leagues
Peter Slamiar (1977, F, Miesbach - 1995, N.Y.Rangers, #143) - From German regional league to the NHL? Good joke. Milan Kostolny (1977, F, HJC - 1995, Hartford, #191) - Belgium and ice hockey? Oh, Geez.
Copyright 2001 Hockey’s Future. Do not reprint or otherwise duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
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