Branislav Mezei

Branislav Mezei ( born October 8, 1980 in Nitra, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak ice hockey player who is under contract with HK Vityaz in the Kontinental Hockey League since May 2013.

Career

Branislav Mezei began his career as a hockey player in the youth of HK Nitra, in which he was active until 1997. He then played three years for the Belleville Bulls in the Canadian top junior league Ontario Hockey League. During this period, he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1999 in the first round as a whole tenth player of the New York Islanders.

For the Islanders, he was in the 2000 /01 season his debut in the National Hockey League. In his rookie year, the defender scored five points scorer in 42 games, including a goal. In the following season he was more two assists in 24 NHL inserts. During his two years in New York the links Sagittarius also ran for their farm team of the American Hockey League, the Lowell Lock Monsters and Bridgeport Sound Tigers on. On 3 July 2002 Mezei was released in exchange for Jason Wiemer to the Florida Panthers, for whom he played the following six years. Only during the lockout in the NHL season 2004 /05 he was in Europe for the HC Ocelari Třinec in the Czech Extraliga HC Dukla Trenčín, as well as in the Slovak Extraliga on the ice. In the summer of 2008, the Slovak Barys Astana of the newly formed Continental Hockey League has been committed. After just one season in Astana Mezei first moved to HC Plzeň in the Czech Extraliga, where he stood in 18 league games on the ice. End of October 2009 he was engaged by the Espoo Blues which so reacted to their defensive weakness.

In June 2010, Mezei was obliged by HC Pardubice. For the 2011/12 season he joined the Slovak KHL rookie HC Lev Poprad.

Internationally

For Slovakia Mezei took part in the U20 World Junior Championships in 1999 and 2000. In addition, he was in the squad of Slovakia at the World Championships in 2001, 2004 and 2008, as well as the World Cup of Hockey 2004.

Awards and achievements

Statistics

(End of season 2010/11)