Eric Hartzell (born May 28, 1989) is an American former professional

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 ...

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 ...

. He last played abroad for

HK Nitra Hokejový Klub Nitra is a professional ice hockey club based in Nitra, Slovakia. The club has been a member of the Tipsport Liga (hockey), Slovak Extraliga since the 2003–04 Slovak Extraliga, 2003–04 season and winner of Slovak Extraliga in th ...

in the

Slovak Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

(Slovak).

Playing career

Before turning professional, Hartzell attended

Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became ...

, where he played four seasons of

NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

with the

Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I college ice hockey program that represents Quinnipiac University. The Bobcats are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at ...

team. In his final year with the Bobcats, Hartzell was selected to the 2012–2013 NCAA (East) First All-American Team, was named NCAA Top Collegiate Player

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 44 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Universit ...

Hat Trick Finalist, and was selected as the USCHO.com Player of the Year. On April 14, 2013, Hartzell was signed to a two-year entry-level contract with the

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

. He made his professional debut in the 2013–14 season with Pittsburgh's

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 ...

affiliate, the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (sometimes known as the WBS Penguins) are a professional ice hockey team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Pengui ...

. After his contract with the Penguins, Hartzell was not tendered a new deal and was released to free agency. Unable to garner interest in the NHL or AHL, Hartzell was signed by the

Idaho Steelheads The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, t ...

of the ECHL on October 11, 2015. Hartzell appeared in 5 games with the Steelheads in the 2015–16 season, before he was loaned on a professional try-out contract to the

Stockton Heat The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Hea ...

of the AHL on November 7, 2015. After featured in relief in a single games with the Heat, Hartzell opted to venture to Germany for the remainder of the season, linking up with Heilbronner Falken of the

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2 or DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Se ...

. As a free agent after his tenure with Heilbronner, Hartzell opted to return to the ECHL, signing a one-year deal with the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

to share goaltending duties alongside Pat Nagle on August 8, 2016. In the 2016–17 season, Hartzell appeared in 19 games with the Komets for 7 wins. Relegated to a backup role, Hartzell opted to conclude his contract with Fort Wayne and return to Europe, signing a deal for the remainder of the year with Slovakian club, HK Nitra of Slovak Extraliga on January 7, 2017.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartzell, Eric 1989 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American expatriate ice hockey players in Germany American expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia American men's ice hockey goaltenders Fort Wayne Komets players Heilbronner Falken players HK Nitra players Ice hockey people from Washington County, Minnesota Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Quad City Mallards (ECHL) players Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey players Sioux Falls Stampede players Sportspeople from White Bear Lake, Minnesota Stockton Heat players Wheeling Nailers players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players