Ivan ÄŒiernik
Ivan Čiernik (born 30 October 1977 in Levice, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak ice hockey player standing since the 2013/14 season with the Augsburger Panther in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga under contract.
Career
Ivan Čiernik began his hockey career in his native Slovakia at the MHC Plastika Nitra. There, the winger from 1994 played three years for both the junior team and for the first team in the Extraliga. After Čiernik NHL Entry Draft in 1996 was drafted to 216 instead of the Ottawa Senators, he decided a year later to a move to North America. In his first season, the attacker was mainly used for the farm team the Senators in Worcester, but was first appearances in the NHL. 1998/99 he played exclusively in the American Hockey League for the Adirondack Red Wings and the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. The next two years denied the Slovak for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the International Hockey League, where he again sporadically played games for the Ottawa Senators.
In the season 2001/ 02 played Čiernik then a large part of the year in the NHL, first for Ottawa, later for the Washington Capitals. In the following year, the striker got regularly inserts for the Capitals, with whom, however, he again failed early in the play-offs. The 2003/ 04 meant a step back for Čiernik because he had to play a main part of the season in the AHL again. After switching off in the first play-off round of the Slovak moved back to Europe, where he joined the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg in the DEL. Right away he developed into one of the best winger the league and had a major part of the sporting league of league newcomer. However, the Wolfsburg had to dismount forcibly why Čiernik opted for a change to the Cologne Sharks. There he increased in the 2005/06 season his points haul to 61 points scorer in 51 games and was one of the best players of the year, which earned him an invitation to the All -Star Game in 2006. In addition Čiernik was chosen by a jury in the annual vote of the journal Hockey News as the "best winger in the DEL ." In the regular season 2007/2008 Ivan Čiernik scored 38 goals for the Sharks and was therefore scorer of Cologne. The subsequent play-off round, he finished with 11 goals as top scorer in the play-offs in 2007 /08.
Although his contract expired in Cologne until 2011, but launched Čiernik in the summer of 2008, a change to HK Sibir Novosibirsk of the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League, as he allegedly insulted by Sharks coach Doug Mason after losing the final of the 2007/ 08 had. After only one year of the Slovak returned in the summer of 2009 back to KEC, where he received a one year contract with an option for another season. For the 2011/12 season the Slovak joined the Malmö Redhawks of the HockeyAllsvenskan, the Swedish second division. After one season in Sweden, the father of two sons returned to Germany and signed a contract for the 2012/13 season with the Hannover Scorpions of the DEL. He then moved to 2013/14 season to the Augsburg Panthers.
Internationally
For Slovakia Čiernik took part in the U20 World Youth Championship in 1997 and the World Championships in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
Awards and achievements
- 2005 Participation at the DEL All-Star Game
- 2006 Participation at the DEL All-Star Game
- 2006 Award for the best winger of the season 2005/ 06 by the journal Hockey News
- 2007 Participation at the DEL All-Star Game
- 2008 Participation at the DEL All-Star Game
- 2008 Top Goalscorer (DEL Playoffs )
Career Stats
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )