Martin Růžička (15 December 1985) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player. Růžička is currently playing for

HC Oceláři Třinec HC Oceláři Třinec (''Třinec Steelers'') is a Czech ice hockey team from Třinec who play in the Czech Extraliga, the top tier of Czech ice hockey. Their home arena is the Werk Arena. The team's main sponsors are the local Třinec Iron and Stee ...

. Růžička has played professionally for

HC Sparta Praha Hockey Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as HC Sparta Prague, is a Prague-based Czech ice hockey team playing in the Czech Extraliga. The club has won four Czech championships (most recently in 2007) and four Czechoslovak championships, as w ...

, HC Znojemští Orli, HC Olomouc,

and

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (russian: Хоккейный клуб Амур), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Khabarovsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

. Růžička participated at the

2010 IIHF World Championship The 2010 IIHF World Championship was the 74th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 7 and 23 May 2010 in Germany. The games were played in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, SAP Arena in Mannh ...

as a member of the

Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team The Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called " Big Six", the unofficial group of th ...

Playing career

Ruzicka was born in Beroun, and played his youth hockey with HC Berounsti Medvedi. Ruzicka began his

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

career with the HC Sparta Praha Under 18 squad in 2000–01. In 2001, he moved to HC Kladno, first for the under-18 squad, then moved up to the under-20 squad, playing two seasons for Kladno. Kladno won the junior title in 2003. Růžička then moved to North America to play major junior hockey for the

Everett Silvertips The Everett Silvertips are an American major junior ice hockey team currently members of the U.S. Division in the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Everett, Washington, and joined the WHL as an expansio ...

in 2003–04. Růžička scored only 4 goals and 12 assists for Everett and was released after the season to re-enter the 2004 CHL European Import Draft. Růžička played for the

Lethbridge Hurricanes The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the Eastern Conference (Central Division) of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Lethbridge, Alberta, and play their home games at the ...

in 2004–05, scoring 5 goals and 5 assists in 57 games. Ruzicka's goal was to play in the NHL but he was not drafted by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) and he returned to the Czech Republic in 2005. From 2005 until 2011, Ruzicka played for several teams in Czech leagues. He had his best season in the Czech Extraliga league with Trinec in 2010–11, scoring 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in 51 games. He broke the Extraliga playoff scoring record, scoring 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games. The previous record of 26 points in 13 games was set by Zigmund Palffy in 1992. The season led to the attention of

of the KHL, which has signed him for the 2011–12 season.

International play

Ruzicka played in the 2005 World Junior Championships for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He has also played in the 2010 World Championship for the

. Ruzicka has also played in various 'friendly' games for the Czech Republic.

Awards

* ''Eurohockey'' Player of the Month, March 2011 * ''Eurohockey'' Player of the Month, October 2012

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruzicka, Martin 1985 births Amur Khabarovsk players Czech ice hockey centres Everett Silvertips players Lethbridge Hurricanes players Living people HC Oceláři Třinec players HC Olomouc players Orli Znojmo players People from Beroun HC Sparta Praha players Traktor Chelyabinsk players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Ice hockey people from the Central Bohemian Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia