| Position: | Right Wing |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 205 |
| Ntl Team: | Czech Republic |
| Birth Date: | 28 November 1979 |
| Birth Place: | Uherské Hradiště, Czechoslovakia |
| Draft: | 184th overall |
| Draft Year: | 2002 |
| Draft Team: | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| Career Start: | 1998 |
| Career End: | 2015 |
| Played For: | HC Zlín HPK Columbus Blue Jackets HV71 BK Mlada Boleslav HC Bílí Tygři Liberec |
Jaroslav Balaštík[1] (born November 28, 1979) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who most notably played with HC Zlin in the Czech Extraliga and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Coming through the Czech professional hockey ranks Balaštík was drafted as an overage player in the 6th round, 184th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. After playing eight seasons (1997–2005) with HC Zlín in the Czech Extraliga, and part of one season (2002–03) with HPK in the Finnish SM-liiga; Balaštík started 2005 season with the Syracuse Crunch, the Blue Jackets' American Hockey League affiliate. He was quickly promoted to the big club, where he became somewhat of a shootout-specialist, going 6-for-9 for the season.
In his second season with the Blue Jackets and limited opportunity, on December 13, 2006, Balaštík was released and contracted by the Swedish Jönköping-based club HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien. In HV71, Balaštík played with his fellow countryman Jan Hrdina, with whom he has played previously in Columbus Blue Jackets in NHL.[2]
From 2007–08 he rejoined HC Zlin in the Czech Republic and played 5 of the past 6 seasons with the team, defecting to BK Mlada Boleslav for a single season in 2011–12.[3] He closed out his career after three more seasons with the club, before moving to HC Bílí Tygři Liberec.
| Team | League | GP | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | AC ZPS Zlín | CZE U18 | ||||||||||||
| 1996–97 | AC ZPS Zlín | CZE U18 | 45 | 27 | 24 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1997–98 | HC ZPS–Barum Zlín | CZE U20 | 36 | 21 | 35 | 56 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||||
| 1997–98 | HC ZPS–Barum Zlín | ELH | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | HC Uherské Hradiště | CZE.3 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1998–99 | HC ZPS–Barum Zlín | ELH | 41 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | ||
| 1998–99 | HC Kometa Brno | CZE.2 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | HC ZPS–Barum Zlín | CZE U20 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1999–2000 | HC Barum Continental Zlín | CZE U20 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | HC Barum Continental Zlín | ELH | 48 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2000–01 | HC Barum Continental Zlín | ELH | 52 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2001–02 | HC Continental Zlín | ELH | 50 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 | ||
| 2002–03 | HC Hamé Zlín | ELH | 31 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | HPK | SM-liiga | 13 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | HC Hamé Zlín | ELH | 51 | 29 | 18 | 47 | 54 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 32 | ||
| 2004–05 | HC Hamé Zlín | ELH | 52 | 30 | 16 | 46 | 74 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 52 | ||
| 2005–06 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 66 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 14 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | HV71 | SEL | 25 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 34 | ||
| 2007–08 | RI Okna Zlín | ELH | 52 | 29 | 11 | 40 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | RI Okna Zlín | ELH | 52 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 72 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | ||
| 2009–10 | PSG Zlín | ELH | 45 | 21 | 21 | 42 | 32 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 2010–11 | PSG Zlín | ELH | 52 | 22 | 13 | 35 | 34 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | BK Mladá Boleslav | ELH | 52 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | PSG Zlín | ELH | 52 | 26 | 13 | 39 | 28 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14 | PSG Zlín | ELH | 52 | 20 | 11 | 31 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 14 | ||
| 2014–15 | PSG Zlín | ELH | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Bílí Tygři Liberec | ELH | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| ELH totals | 724 | 277 | 202 | 479 | 572 | 115 | 36 | 40 | 76 | 189 | ||||
| NHL totals | 74 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Czech Republic | EJC | 5th | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1999 | Czech Republic | WJC | 7th | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2003 | Czech Republic | WC | 4th | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2006 | Czech Republic | WC | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 2007 | Czech Republic | WC | 7th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Senior totals | 23 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 8 | ||||