Martin Prusek Explained

Team:Dinamo Riga
League:KHL
Position:Goaltender
Catches:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:171
Former Teams:Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)
HC Vitkovice (Czech)
Ntl Team:Czech Republic
Birth Date:December 11, 1975
Birth Place:Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Draft:164th overall
Draft Year:1999
Draft Team:Ottawa Senators
Career Start:1994
Career End:2011

Martin Prusek (born December 11, 1975) is a Czech ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his playing career, Prusek appeared in 57 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Prusek currently serves as the goaltending coach for HC Vítkovice Steel of the Czech Extraliga.

Playing career

Martin Prusek started his professional ice hockey career in 1994 when he joined HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraliga. After playing there for five seasons, Prusek was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the sixth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft with the 164th overall pick. He made his North American debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League during the 2001–02 season. He also made his National Hockey League debut that same season, appearing in one game with the Senators.

Prusek appeared in 47 games with the Senators over the following two seasons, compiling a record of 28–8–4. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he returned to the Czech Republic to play for Vitkovice and HC JME Znojemští Orli. He came back to North America for the 2005–06 season, joining the Columbus Blue Jackets. After spending most of the 2005–06 season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch, Prusek left North America and joined SKA Saint Petersburg in the Russian Super League. During 2007–08, he rejoined HC Vitkovice in the Czech Extraliga. In 2008-09 Prusek played in Kontinental Hockey League and after a brief contract with HC Spartak Moscow, he joined Dinamo Riga for 2 seasons. After the 2009-10 season, Prusek once again rejoined HC Vítkovice Steel. Although he suffered from carditis and played just in 2 Extraliga games during all the 2010-11 season, he reached a silver medal.

In summer 2011, he stepped into HC Vítkovice Steel pre-season players' camp, but on July 26 he announced his retirement decision and also he accepted the club's offer for the position of goaltender coach.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP W L T OTL MIN GA SV%GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995–96HC VítkoviceCZE40 2336 113 1 2.90 .9114 250 10 1 2.40 .935
1996–97HC VítkoviceCZE49 2841 109 8 2.30 .9219 546 19 1 2.09 .935
1997–98HC VítkoviceCZE50 2901 129 0 2.67 .9489 529 26 1 2.95 .910
1998–99HC VítkoviceCZE37 1905 85 0 2.68 .9174 250 12 0 2.88 .923
1999–00HC VítkoviceCZE50 2647 132 0 2.99 .911
2000–01HC VítkoviceCZE30 1679 64 0 2.29 .9249 460 25 0 3.26 .919
2001–02Grand Rapids GriffinsAHL33 18 8 5 1903 58 4 1.83 .9305 2 3 278 10 0 2.16 .896
2001–02Ottawa SenatorsNHL1 0 1 0 62 3 0 2.90 .800
2002–03Ottawa SenatorsNHL18 12 2 1 935 37 0 2.37 .911
2002–03Binghamton SenatorsAHL4 1 2 1 243 7 1 1.73 .925
2003–04Ottawa SenatorsNHL29 16 6 3 1528 54 3 2.12 .9171 0 0 40 1 0 1.50 .933
2004–05HC VítkoviceCZE14 672 28 0 2.50 .931
2004–05HC Znojemsti Orli ZnojmoCZE8 453 18 0 2.38 .932
2005–06Syracuse CrunchAHL23 12 7 1 1203 60 2 2.99 .911
2005-06Columbus Blue JacketsNHL9 3 3 0 373 20 0 3.22 .879
2006–07SKA St. PetersburgRSL22 1161 52 3 2.69
2007–08HC VítkoviceCZE43 17 26 0 2366 106 3 2.69 .932
2008–09Spartak MoscowKHL22 8 9 4 1280 64 2 3.00 .879
2008–09Dynamo RigaKHL20 10 6 2 1164 33 6 1.70 .9413 0 3 167 13 0 4.67 .859
2009–10Dynamo RigaKHL28 7 15 2 1477 77 0 3.13 .9034 1 3 210 9 0 2.57 .921
2010–11HC VítkoviceCZE2 106 4 0 2.26 .923
NHL totals57 31 12 4 0 2898 114 3 2.36 .9091 0 0 40 1 0 1.50 .933

Awards

International achievements

Martin Prusek's first international team game was the game against Russia on December 17, 1995, in Moscow.