Martin Prusek (born December 11, 1975) is a Czech
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
coach and former professional ice hockey
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...
. During his playing career, Prusek appeared in 57 games in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) with the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...
and
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...
. Prusek currently serves as the goaltending coach for
HC Vítkovice Steel
HC, hc or H/C may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine
* Health Canada
* Hemicrania continua
* Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia
Chemistry
* Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc
* ...
of the
Czech Extraliga
The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...
.
Playing career
Martin Prusek started his professional ice hockey career in 1994 when he joined
HC Vitkovice
HC, hc or H/C may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine
* Health Canada
* Hemicrania continua
* Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia
Chemistry
* Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc
* ...
of the Czech Extraliga. After playing there for five seasons, Prusek was drafted by the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...
in the sixth round of the
1999 NHL entry draft with the 164th overall pick. He signed a multi-year contract with Ottawa in 2001 and made his North American debut with the
Grand Rapids Griffins
The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
during the
2001–02 season. He also made his NHL debut
that same season, appearing in one game with the Senators.
Prusek appeared in 47 games with the Senators over the following two seasons, compiling a record of 28–8–4. During the
2004–05 NHL lockout
The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play.
The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...
, he returned to the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
to play for Vitkovice and
HC JME Znojemští Orli. He came back to North America for the
2005–06 season, joining the
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...
.
After spending most of the
2005–06 season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate
Syracuse Crunch
The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team based in Syracuse, New York. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. They play in they home games at the Upstate Medical Univer ...
, Prusek left North America and joined
SKA Saint Petersburg
Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...
in the
Russian Super League
The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...
. During 2007–08, he rejoined HC Vitkovice in the Czech Extraliga. In 2008-09 Prusek played in
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs.
It was considered in ...
and after a brief contract with
HC Spartak Moscow
HC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a professional ice hockey club based in Moscow, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club played in the Tarasov Division of the KHL during the 2013–14 season. Howe ...
, he joined
Dinamo Riga
Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU.
The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...
for 2 seasons. After the 2009-10 season, Prusek once again rejoined HC Vítkovice Steel. Although he suffered from carditis and played just in 2 Extraliga games during all the 2010-11 season, he reached a silver medal.
In summer 2011, he stepped into HC Vítkovice Steel pre-season players' camp, but on July 26 he announced his retirement decision and also he accepted the club's offer for the position of goaltender coach.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Awards
*
Hap Holmes Memorial Award (lowest
GAA
Gaa may refer to:
* Gaa language, a language of Nigeria
* gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana
GAA may stand for:
Compounds
* Glacial (water-free), acetic acid
* Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...
in
AHL): 2001–02 season (with
Mathieu Chouinard
Mathieu Chouinard (born April 11, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played one game in the National Hockey League, with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2003–04 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from ...
and
Simon Lajeunesse
Simon Lajeunesse (born January 22, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the second round (48th overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators and played a single National Hockey League (NHL ...
)
International achievements
Martin Prusek's first international team game was the game against Russia on December 17, 1995, in Moscow.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prusek, Martin
1975 births
Living people
Binghamton Senators players
Columbus Blue Jackets players
Czech ice hockey goaltenders
Dinamo Riga players
Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia
Grand Rapids Griffins players
HC Spartak Moscow players
HC Vítkovice players
Ottawa Senators draft picks
Ottawa Senators players
Ice hockey people from Ostrava
SKA Saint Petersburg players
Syracuse Crunch players
Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada
Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Latvia
Expatriate ice hockey players in Latvia