Zbyněk Michálek (, born 23 December 1982) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

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 ...

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 most recently played for

Sparta Praha Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

(ELH). Michálek has also previously played in the NHL for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

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 ...

, and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. He is the older brother of former NHL star

Milan Michálek Milan Michálek (; ; born 7 December 1984) is a Czech former professional ice hockey left winger who most recently played under contract to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted sixth overall by the San Jose ...

Playing career

Junior

Michálek played two seasons of

major 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 t ...

for the

Shawinigan Cataractes The Shawinigan Cataractes () are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Shawinigan, Quebec. The franchise plays their home games at the Centre Gervais Auto, and were originally known as ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL). He was not drafted in any NHL Entry Draft, but began playing professional hockey in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

with the Houston Aeros 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 ...

(AHL), winning a

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

championship with the team in 2003.

Professional

Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes

Michálek made his NHL debut during the 2003–04 season with the

, the Aeros' NHL affiliate. In 2005, Michálek was traded to the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

in exchange for

Erik Westrum Erik Clinton Westrum (born July 26, 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Phoenix Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing ca ...

and Dustin Wood. He played five seasons for the Coyotes, leading the NHL in blocked shots during the 2008–09 season. His excellent play continued into

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, as he helped the Coyotes earn a Stanley Cup playoff berth for the first time since

Pittsburgh Penguins

On 1 July 2010, the first day of the NHL free agency period, Michálek signed a five-year, $20 million contract with the

as an unrestricted free agent. Prior to his signing, Michálek was described as "The Defenseman Every Team Wants" by AOL Fanhouse due to his strong defensive skills, durability and shot-blocking. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Michálek scored his first goal for the Penguins in a 3–1 win over 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 ...

on 8 March 2011. 2011-04-15 Zbynek Michalek

Return to Phoenix, St. Louis Blues, second return to Arizona

On 22 June 2012, during the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Michálek was traded back to the Coyotes in exchange for

Harrison Ruopp Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places Australia * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin Canada * Inukjuak, Quebec, or "Port H ...

, goaltender

Marc Cheverie Marc Cheverie (born February 22, 1987) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who spent time playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as well as with the Dundee Stars in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He was chosen by th ...

and a 2012 third-round draft pick (81st overall). Michálek played two further seasons in the Coyotes organization, whereupon in 2014–15, as a pending unrestricted free agent, he was traded at the

NHL trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

on 2 March 2015, to the

, along with a conditional third-round pick in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, in exchange for prospect Maxim Letunov, despite Michálek recovering from a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

at the time. On 1 July 2015 Michálek was re-signed by the Coyotes as a free agent. After the 2016 preseason, Michálek was cut from the Arizona Coyotes, and thus placed on waivers by the Arizona Coyotes. On Sunday 19 March 2017, he was called up by the Coyotes from the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Utah Mammoth. They play their home games at the Tucson Convention Cente ...

to play the following day. He ended up playing two games after that one, accumulating a total of no points, no minutes spent in the

sinbin The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

, and a plus-one rating in three total games. On 19 October 2017, Michálek signed with

of the

(ELH).

International play

Michálek played for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, alongside his brother

, at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. He was also selected to represent the Czech Republic at the

2011 IIHF World Championship The 2011 IIHF World Championship was the 75th IIHF World Championship, an annual international men's ice hockey tournament. It took place between 29 April and 15 May 2011 in Slovakia. The games were played in the Ondrej Nepela Arena, Orange Aren ...

, where he won bronze alongside his brother.

Personal life

Michálek is married to Helena (born in 1979 in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

) and they have three children together, a son and two daughters. Michálek's younger brother

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

formerly played in the NHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michalek, Zbynek 1982 births Arizona Coyotes players Czech ice hockey defencemen Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Living people Minnesota Wild players Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Sportspeople from Jindřichův Hradec Phoenix Coyotes players Pittsburgh Penguins players Shawinigan Cataractes players HC Sparta Praha players Tucson Roadrunners players Undrafted National Hockey League players Ice hockey people from the South Bohemian Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada 21st-century Czech sportsmen

Playing career

Junior

Professional

Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes

Pittsburgh Penguins

Return to Phoenix, St. Louis Blues, second return to Arizona

International play

Personal life

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

See also

References

External links