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Marek Malik
Marek Malik
Position Defence
Shoots Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Czech Extraliga Team
F. Teams
HC Vítkovice Steel
Genève-Servette HC
HC Vítkovice
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Rangers
Vancouver Canucks
Carolina Hurricanes
Hartford Whalers
Born (1975-06-24)June 24, 1975,
Ostrava, TCH
NHL Draft 72nd overall, 1993
Hartford Whalers
Pro Career 1993 – present


Marek Malík (born June 24, 1975) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for HC Vítkovice Steel of the Czech Extraliga. Malík played in the National Hockey League from 1998 to 2009. He is best known for a highlight reel shootout goal while with the New York Rangers.

Playing career[]

After playing with TJ Vitkovice Jr. in the Czech junior league, Malík was drafted 72nd overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He played one season for HC Vítkovice of the Czech Extraliga before joining the Whalers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, in 1994–95. He played the better part of two seasons with the Falcons before earning a roster spot with the Whalers.

While the Whalers' franchise relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997–98 to become the Carolina Hurricanes, Malík played in the Swedish Elitserien with the Malmö Redhawks. He returned to the NHL the following season with the Hurricanes. In 2001–02, Malík recorded a career-high 23 points. The following season, his ninth with the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise, Malík was traded to the Vancouver Canucks along with Darren Langdon in exchange for Jan Hlaváč and Harold Druken. He completed his second season with the Canucks, in 2003–04, as co-recipient of the NHL Plus/Minus Award (shared with Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning) with a +35 rating.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Malík returned to the Czech Extraliga to play for HC Vítkovice. With NHL play set to resume the following season, he signed a three-year deal with the New York Rangers.

On November 26, 2005, Malík scored on Washington Capitals netminder Olaf Kölzig to finish the longest shootout in NHL history.[1] The goal was described as a "circus shot" as Malík drew the puck towards the center of the net, put his stick between his legs, and shot high on Kölzig's stick side.

With goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Kölzig dominant in net, the shootout went to 15 rounds. The teams had selected so many players to shoot that they were being forced to send out their weaker defencemen. Bryan Muir of the Caps scored in round 14, and Jason Strudwick answered for the Rangers to tie the score again. The next Caps shooter was stopped, which set the stage for Malík. He skated in on Kölzig, deked to his glove, pulled the puck back, put his stick through his legs, and flipped it in over Kölzig's blocker to score and win the game. He had not scored a goal during the season at the time. After the shot, he raised his arm and shrugged to the fans before being mobbed by his teammates. Former Rangers commentator John Davidson said, "Now I've seen it all! First Strudwick scores, then Malík wins a shootout with a shot between the legs. Oh Baby!" The goal was ranked as the play of the year by TSN's SportsCentre.

During his time with New York, Malík was criticized for his lack of physical play, despite his size, as well as his risky decision-making with the puck. These criticisms have been applied to Malík as early as his minor league days in Springfield.[2]

On January 24, 2008, he was not at the game on Brian Leetch Night, even though it was team policy for players to be present at games. He also did not attend practice and his locker was empty for the game after he refused to shake hands with head coach Tom Renney after a victory in the Rangers' previous game.[3]

On October 14, 2008, Malík signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On November 23, 2009, Malik signed a one-year contract with the Genève-Servette HC from the Swiss National League A.

Awards[]

Personal life[]

Malík has a wife and two sons.[4][5] While Malík was with the Rangers, his teammates and coaches called him "Harry" because he looks like the title character from Harry and the Hendersons.[6][7]

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 HC Vítkovice Czech 41 3 4 7 0
1994–95 Hartford Whalers NHL 1 0 1 1 0
1994–95 Springfield Falcons AHL 58 11 30 41 91
1995–96 Springfield Falcons AHL 68 8 14 22 135 8 1 3 4 20
1995–96 Hartford Whalers NHL 7 0 0 0 4
1996–97 Springfield Falcons AHL 3 0 3 3 4
1996–97 Hartford Whalers NHL 47 1 5 6 50
1997–98 Malmö Redhawks SEL 37 1 5 6 21
1998–99 Beast of New Haven AHL 21 2 8 10 28
1998–99 HC Vítkovice Czech 1 1 0 1 6
1998–99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 52 2 9 11 36 4 0 0 0 4
1999–00 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 57 4 10 14 63
2000–01 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 61 6 14 20 34 3 0 0 0 6
2001–02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 4 19 23 88 23 0 3 3 18
2002–03 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 10 0 2 2 16
2002–03 Vancouver Canucks NHL 69 7 11 18 52 14 1 1 2 10
2003–04 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 3 16 19 45 7 0 0 0 10
2004–05 HC Vítkovice Steel Czech 42 1 9 10 50 7 0 0 0 37
2005–06 New York Rangers NHL 74 2 16 18 78 4 0 1 1 6
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 69 2 19 21 70 10 1 3 4 10
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 42 2 8 10 48
2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 42 0 5 5 36
NHL totals 691 33 135 168 620 65 2 8 10 64

International play[]

Medal record
Competitor for Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Ice hockey
Winter Olympics
Bronze 2006 Turin

Malík has played for the Czech Republic in the following competitions:

See also[]

References[]

  1. Game of the Night: Canucks outlast Ducks in 13 round shootout. National Hockey League (2008-10-31). Retrieved on 2008-10-31.
  2. Lowe, Mike. "PIRATES TRY TO FINISH OFF FALCONS", Portland Press Herald, May 10, 1996. Retrieved on 2011-05-24. 
  3. Greenberg, Jay. "Malik sits out Rangers' victory", New York Post, 2008-01-25. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  4. Weinman, Sam. "Malik doesn’t get the boos, and neither do I", The Journal News, 2007-03-01. Retrieved on 2008-07-31. 
  5. Weinman, Sam. "Malik status a mystery", The Journal News, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2008-07-31. 
  6. Brooks, Larry. "Sather shops for Malik deal", New York Post, 2008-01-29. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  7. Dellapina, John. "Malik the odd man out", Daily News, 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2008-07-31. 

External links[]

Preceded by
Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk
Co-winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award
(with Martin St. Louis)

2004
Succeeded by
Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Marek Malik. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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