Alexander Salák Explained

Birth Date:5 January 1987
Birth Place:Strakonice, Czechoslovakia
Team:Free Agent
Former Teams:TPS Turku
Florida Panthers
Färjestad BK
SKA Saint Petersburg
Sibir Novosibirsk
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Dinamo Riga
HC Sparta Praha
Djurgårdens IF
Position:Goaltender
Catches:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:3
Weight Lb:196
Ntl Team:Czechia
Draft:Undrafted
Career Start:2004

Alexander Salák (born January 5, 1987) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played two games in the National Hockey League with the Florida Panthers in 2009. Internationally Salák has played for the Czech national team at three World Championships, and at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

Czech Republic

Alexander Salák started his career in IHC Pisek and moved to HC České Budějovice organization during the 2001/02 season.

Salák played from 2002 to 2006 for Budějovice, playing in the U18 and U20 Championship leagues. During the 2005/06 season, he played 2 games for HC Strakonice, a Czech Second National League-team. In the following season, Salák spent the entire season playing for HC Tábor at the same level.

Finland

Alexander Salák was contracted to Finland in 2006, when he played for Mestis team Jokipojat on the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland. For the next season he was contracted to SM-liiga side TPS. In TPS, Salák is coached by TPS Goaltending Coach, Urpo Ylönen who has coached top Finnish goalies like Miikka Kiprusoff, Fredrik Norrena and Antero Niittymäki in the past.

National Hockey League

On May 29, 2009, Alexander Salák was signed by the Florida Panthers of the NHL. He was assigned to their AHL farm team, the Rochester Americans after training camp. He was recalled by the Panthers and made his NHL debut on October 9, 2009 in a relief role in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. On August 13, 2010, Alexander Salák was loaned to Färjestad BK of the Swedish Elite League for the 2010-11 season.

On February 9, 2011, Salák was traded by the Panthers to the Chicago Blackhawks, along with forward Michael Frolík for Jack Skille, Hugh Jessiman, and David Pacan.[1] On May 31, 2011, Salák was signed by the Blackhawks to a two-year contract.[2] On June 18, 2012, the Blackhawks released Salák from his contract.[3]

Kontinental Hockey League

He made his Kontinental Hockey League debut playing with SKA Saint Petersburg during the 2013–14 KHL season.[4]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP W L T OTL MIN GA SV%GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2001–02ICH Písek U18CZE-U1820 5.50 .880
2001–02HC České Budějovice U18CZE-U188 6.32 .810
2002–03HC České Budějovice U18CZE-U1845 2.62 .9278 2.33 .932
2003–04HC České Budějovice U18CZE-U1851 2.50 .9262 2.50 .917
2004–05HC České Budějovice U20CZE-U2041 2.34 .9222 3.00 .914
2005–06HC České Budějovice U20CZE-U2030 1.70 .9421 3.00 .813
2005–06 2. národní hokejová liga season2005–06HC StrakoniceCZE-32 4.00
2005–06HC TáborCZE-31 1.00
2006–07JokipojatMestis35 2.81 .9183 2.39 .931
2007–08TPSSM-l31 1757 76 1 2.59 .9151 4.43 .872
2008–09TPSSM-l52 20 20 9 2981 119 4 2.40 .9238 4 4 489 16 0 1.96 .951
2009–10Florida PanthersNHL2 0 1 0 67 6 0 5.41 .850
2009–10Rochester AmericansAHL48 29 14 0 2557 123 1 2.89 .9102 0 1 69 5 0 4.37 .884
2010–11Färjestad BKSEL32 19 12 0 1857 61 7 1.97 .9269 8 1 562 22 0 2.35 .904
2011–12Rockford IceHogsAHL21 6 10 0 1048 47 0 2.69 .903
2012–13Färjestad BKSEL41 25 15 0 2453 66 7 1.61 .93910 5 5 616 24 1 2.34 .922
2013–14SKA Saint PetersburgKHL34 18 12 0 2049 67 3 1.96 .92910 6 4 622 20 2 1.93 .940
2014–15SKA Saint PetersburgKHL19 14 4 0 1105 44 1 2.39 .914
2014–15Sibir NovosibirskKHL21 14 5 0 1260 34 2 1.62 .94514 8 5 803 21 1 1.57 .943
2015–16Sibir NovosibirskKHL52 26 15 0 3023 95 6 1.89 .9389 5 4 524 16 2 1.83 .942
2016–17Sibir NovosibirskKHL15 5 4 0 795 26 2 1.96 .939
2017–18Sibir NovosibirskKHL37 14 17 1 1924 81 1 2.53 .917
2018–19Lokomotiv YaroslavlKHL20 9 6 3 1099 34 4 1.86 .9226 2 3 248 9 1 2.18 .912
2019–20Dinamo RigaKHL32 8 19 3 1836 77 2 2.52 .912
2020–21Sparta PrahaELH11 8 2 0 626 17 1 1.63 .9406 4 2 2 1.83 .938
2021–22Sparta PrahaELH23 14 9 0 1327 58 1 2.62 .899
2021–22Djurgårdens IFSHL8 4 4 0 478 19 1 2.38 .929
NHL totals2 0 1 0 67 6 0 5.41 .850
KHL totals230 108 82 14 21 2.10 .92839 21 16 2197 66 6 1.80 .928

International

YearTeamEventGP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2005Czech RepublicU181 0 0 0 48 1 0 1.24 .929
2013Czech RepublicWC3 1 2 0 297 7 0 1.42 .938
2014Czech RepublicOG2 0 0 0 70 2 0 1.72 .929
2014Czech RepublicWC10 5 4 0 576 22 2 2.29 .897
2015Czech RepublicWC2 0 1 0 88 8 0 5.44 .742
Junior totals1 0 0 0 48 1 0 1.24 .929
Senior totals17 6 7 0 1031 39 2 2.27 .899

Notes and References

  1. News: Blackhawks trade Jack Skille for Michael Frolik . SunTimes.com . 2011-02-09 . 2011-02-09 . Adam L. . Jahns . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110213181922/http://blogs.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2011/02/blackhawks_trade_jack_skille_f.html . February 13, 2011 .
  2. Web site: Blackhawks sign Salak, Froese and Gilbert . . 2011-05-31 . 2011-05-31.
  3. Web site: Blackhawks make roster moves. Chicago Blackhawks. 18 June 2012.
  4. Web site: Alexander Salak player profile . . 2015-03-04 . 2015-03-04.