Martin Straka (born September 3, 1972) 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, ...

former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who most recently played for HC Plzeň 1929 of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The le ...

. He is also the club's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and co-owner, having bought a 70% share of the team in 2009.EliteProspects.com: Martin Straka (staff profile)
/ref> Straka played in 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) from 1992 until 2008 with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers,

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Playing career

Straka was drafted 19th overall by the Penguins in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who ret ...

, and has played for several teams throughout his 15-year NHL career. After a productive first full season with the Penguins, the shortened 1994-95 season saw him produce only 4 goals and 16 points in 31 games, following which Straka was traded to the

on April 7, 1995 for Norm MacIver and Troy Murray. The following season, on January 23, 1996, less than a year after being traded to Ottawa, he was traded again. Straka was traded to the New York Islanders in a three-way, five-player deal between Ottawa, New York and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, that involved Straka, Kirk Muller, Ken Belanger,

Don Beaupre Donald William Beaupre (born September 19, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 17 seasons with the Minnesota North Stars, Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators, and Toro ...

Bryan Berard Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Berard was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received e ...

, Damian Rhodes and

Wade Redden Wade Redden (born June 12, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a development coach of the Ottawa Senators, with whom he spent the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He also played for the New Yo ...

. He would be placed on waivers and claimed by the Florida Panthers on March 15, 1996. Florida would not re-sign Straka after the 1996–97 season, which made him an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He then returned to Pittsburgh beginning in 1997–98. In 1998-99 he set new career highs, logging 35 goals and 48 assists, but his second season was less successful, but he had established himself as one of the leagues premiere two-way players due to his explosive speed and on-ice vision. With the return of

Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006, and he assumed ownership of the f ...

he would go on to have a career year during the 2000–2001 season for Pittsburgh as he amassed 27 goals and 95 points and in 82 games. In the following season of 2001-02 his speedy reputation would be called into jeopardy after a season-ending injury in the form of a broken leg, an injury which would take him years to fully recover from. On November 30, 2003, in a cost-cutting move, the Penguins would deal Straka to the

for Russian prospect Sergei Anshakov and defenceman Martin Strbak. Straka would later sign as a free agent by the Rangers on August 2, 2005 and went on to have two productive 70 point seasons. On January 17, 2007, despite reports that he was considering retirement, Straka signed a one-year contract extension for the 2007–08 season. On February 16, 2008 in a game against the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

, Straka assisted on a goal to record his 700th NHL point. He was a part of the gold medal-winning Olympic team at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. He also won gold in the

2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2005 Men's Ice Hockey Championships were held March 7 – May 15, 2005, in 7 cities in 6 countries: Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria (Championship); Debrecen, Hungary (Division I - Group A); Eindhoven, the Netherlands (Division I - Group B); Zagr ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In July 2008, Straka returned home to the

, signing a one-year deal with HC Lasselsberger Plzeň (now HC Plzeň 1929). In the 2012–13 season, he won with HC Škoda Plzeň

title. He scored a winning goal in 7th final play-off game versus PSG Zlín in second overtime. On March 28, 2014, Straka announced his retirement from professional hockey.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Straka, Martin 1972 births Living people Cleveland Lumberjacks players Czech ice hockey centres Florida Panthers players HC Plzeň players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Los Angeles Kings players National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Islanders players New York Rangers players Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Ottawa Senators players Sportspeople from Plzeň Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics