Marek Schwarz (born 1 April 1986) is a Czech 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 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 ...

with the St. Louis Blues from 2006 to 2008. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2003 to 2023, was mainly spent in the Czech Extraliga. Internationally Schwarz played for the Czech national junior team at several junior tournaments, winning bronze medals at both the 2004 under-18 championships and 2005 World Junior Championships.

Playing career

As a youth, Schwarz played in the 2000

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with a team from Chomutov. He played

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

in his native Czech Republic with

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

. He made his debut at the senior level with Sparta Praha playing one game in the Czech Extraliga in 2002–03. The following season, he joined the Extraliga full-time at seventeen-years-old and played between three teams –

HC Plzeň 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 * ...

, HC Oceláři Třinec and Sparta Praha. That off-season, Schwarz was drafted 17th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Upon being drafted, he moved to North America to play

major junior Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National List of members of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's nationa ...

in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL) with the Vancouver Giants. He posted a 2.67 GAA and a winning record before moving back to the Czech Republic the following season to continue to play for Sparta Praha. In 2006–07, he began playing for the Peoria Rivermen, the Blues'

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 ...

(AHL) affiliate. He was called up that season and played in his first NHL game on 12 December 2006 against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

. Schwarz made 21 saves on 24 shots as the Blues lost 3–2. At 20 years old, he became the third youngest goaltender in Blues history to play in a game. On 25 October 2008 Schwarz combined with third-string goalie

Ben Bishop Benjamin Manning Bishop III (born November 21, 1986) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Bishop previously played for the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Dallas Star ...

for a 4-0 shutout against the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

. With Manny Legacé and Chris Mason out due to injuries, Schwarz was called up to play backup to Bishop when Bishop also went down with an injury in the third period. Schwarz completed the shutout with 15 minutes to go.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Marek 1986 births Living people BK Mladá Boleslav players Czech ice hockey goaltenders HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HC Oceláři Třinec players Ice hockey people from the Central Bohemian Region NHL first-round draft picks Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Ice hockey people from Mladá Boleslav Vancouver Giants players 21st-century Czech sportsmen