Christopher William Hajt (born July 5, 1978) is a Canadian-born American former

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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He played 6 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

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

during the 2000–01 and 2003–04 seasons. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1998 to 2008, was mainly spent in the minor leagues. After his playing career Hajt became a coach, and has been an Assistant Coach with the

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team based in Ontario, California. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Arena. The fra ...

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 ...

since 2019. Hajt's father, Bill Hajt, also played in the NHL.

Career

Born in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and raised in

Amherst, New York Amherst () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. ...

when his father, Bill Hajt was a member of 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

. He attended Williamsville North High School and graduated in 1996. Hajt was drafted by the

in the second round, 32nd overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft after playing junior hockey with the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL). He became an excellent defenseman in his junior career with the Storm. Hajt spent time in the

, playing in six games, one with the Oilers during the 2000–2001 season, the other five with the

in the 2003–2004 season, and did not record a point in the NHL. Hajt played for

Hockey Club Bolzano-Bozen ''Hockey'' is a family of stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface. ...

of the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in 2007, before retiring in May 2008.

Coaching career

Hajt worked as an assistant coach with the

of the OHL from 2008 to 2014. In the 2014–15 AHL season, he was the assistant coach of the

Manchester Monarchs Manchester Monarchs may refer to: *Manchester Monarchs (AHL) (2001–2015) *Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) The Manchester Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL which began play in the 2015–16 ECHL season, 2015–16 season. Bas ...

. From 2015 to 2017, he served as the assistant coach of the

serving under Mike Stothers. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the assistant coach of the

. Hajt returned to the

of the AHL on June 25, 2019.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen American people of Slovenian descent Bolzano HC players Buffalo Sabres coaches Edmonton Oilers draft picks Edmonton Oilers players Füchse Duisburg players Guelph Storm players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from New York (state) Lukko players People from Amherst, New York Ice hockey people from Erie County, New York Portland Pirates players Ice hockey people from Saskatoon Washington Capitals players American expatriate ice hockey players in Finland {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1970s-stub