Steven Zalewski (born August 20, 1986) is an American former 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 ...

center. He most recently played with the

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. Pr ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL). Zalewski was drafted 153rd overall in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockou ...

by the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

Playing career

Zalewski played high school hockey for the NYS Section III Division 2, New Hartford Spartans and was named NYS Player of the year in 2002. Zalewski played college hockey for four years at

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an en ...

, scoring 108 points in 151 games. Following a brief stint with the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Sharks played ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season, Zalewski played 75 games for the team in 2008–09. He collected 13 goals and 26 assists in his first season of professional play. After scoring a goal in three games at the beginning of the

2009–10 AHL season The 2009–10 AHL season was the 74th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-nine teams played 80 regular-season games each from October 2 to April 11. This season featured the addition of one new team, the relocation of two others, and the ...

, Zalewski made his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks on October 12, 2009 against the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mu ...

. Zalewski was traded along with Jay Leach to the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kans ...

for Patrick Davis and Mike Swift. During the 2011–12 season, Zalewski was recalled from AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils, and appeared in 7 games for New Jersey. On July 18, 2013, Zalewski signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with Finnish club, Lukko of the

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

, and the next year stayed in Liiga, signing a one-year contract for

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the ci ...

. After two seasons in Finland, Zalewski continued his career abroad, moving to Germany in signing an initial one-year deal with the

of the DEL on June 17, 2015, that was extended for another year in 2016. He featured in international hockey for the first time in 2015, playing three games for the US National team in the Deutschland Cup in Germany. He was a late addition to the squad, replacing Auston Matthews after he was ruled out with a back injury.

Personal

Two of Zalewski's brothers have played professionally, Rich played in the Southern Hockey League, and Mike who plays professional hockey for

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

in the DEL. His sister, Annika Zalewski, plays professionally with the PWHPA, having previously played for the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts are a professional ice hockey team based in Amherst, New York, United States. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four founding franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), originally named the National Women' ...

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zalewski, Steven 1986 births Albany Devils players American men's ice hockey centers Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey players Clarkson University alumni Ice hockey players from New York (state) Ilves players Living people Lukko players New Jersey Devils players People from New Hartford, New York San Jose Sharks draft picks San Jose Sharks players Sportspeople from Utica, New York Straubing Tigers players Worcester Sharks players