Matt Garbowsky (born July 26, 1990) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

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. He is currently an

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who most recently played with the

Graz99ers The Moser Medical Graz 99ers are an Austrian professional ice hockey team from Graz, Styria. The club was founded in 1999 after the previous club, EHC Graz, folded prior to the 1998–99 season due to financial difficulties. The Graz99ers starte ...

of the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

(EBEL).

Playing career

Junior

Garbowsky played two seasons for the

Powell River Kings The Powell River Kings are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Coastal Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Hap Parker Arena. Hi ...

of the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

(BCHL). He scored 172 points (87 goals, 85 assists) in 146 games during the two seasons, and was named a 2011 Coastal Conference All-Star and MVP.

College

Garbowsky attended

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

where he played four seasons (2011–15) with the

RIT Tigers men's ice hockey The RIT Tigers men's ice hockey team is a collegiate ice hockey team representing the Rochester Institute of Technology in suburban Rochester, New York, United States. The school's men's team competes in the Division I Atlantic Hockey conferenc ...

team, which competes in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

's Division I in the

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

conference. In his four seasons at RIT, during three of which he served as

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, he compiled 114 points (48 goals, 66 assists), placing him fifth all-time among RIT players during the team's Division I era. He was forced to miss 24 games during his junior season (2013–14) due to a wrist injury, but still managed to record 7 points in just 13 games. In his senior year (2014–15), Garbowsky was selected as Atlantic Hockey's Player of the Year, named to the All-Atlantic Hockey First Team, and was a finalist for the

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 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

. He tallied 54 points in 40 games and led all Division I players with 729

face-off A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse. During a face-off, two teams line up in opposition to each other, and t ...

wins during the season.

Professional

After completing his collegiate career, Garbowsky agreed to a one-year contract with the Rochester Americans of the AHL for the 2015–16 season. He also signed a tryout contract with the Americans to be able to play in the remainder of the 2014–15 season, where he appeared in 8 games and recorded 1 point. In his first full professional season, on October 6, 2015, Garbowsky was assigned to the Americans ECHL affiliate, the

Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. ...

, training camp. On October 25, 2015, Garbowsky was recalled to the Amerks after playing in four games with the Jackals. Garbowsky appeared in 16 games over the course of the season in the AHL, however finished with 21 points in 33 games with the Jackals. As a free agent in the off-season and unable to garner an AHL contract, Garbowsky opted to continue in the ECHL, signing a one-year deal with the Colorado Eagles, a secondary affiliate to the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (N ...

, on August 16, 2016. He was named MVP of the

ECHL All-Star Classic The ECHL All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game that traditionally marks the midway point of the ECHL's regular season, with many of the league's star players playing against each other. The starting lineup for the teams, including the start ...

on January 18, 2017. After two standout championship seasons with the Eagles, Garbowsky opted to sign his first contract abroad, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Graz 99ers of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL) on June 21, 2018.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garbowsky, Matt Living people 1990 births Canadian ice hockey centres Colorado Eagles players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Graz 99ers players Powell River Kings players RIT Tigers men's ice hockey players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from the County of Brant Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans