Mário Bližňák
Mário Bliznak ( born March 3, 1987 in Trenčín, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak ice hockey player standing since June 2011 when HC Sparta Prague in the Czech Extraliga under contract.
- 2.1 International
Career
Bliznak began his career in his home country at HK Spartak Dubnica. There he played in the 2004/05 season for the first time in the pros. At age 18, the Center moved to North America in the fall of 2005 to the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League. A few months before the Vancouver Canucks had him selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 2005 in the seventh round at 205th position. Overall Bliznak played three years with the Giants and won in 2006 the President's Cup and a year later the Memorial Cup with the team.
From the summer of 2008 played the Slovakian with the Manitoba Moose, the farm team of the Vancouver Canucks. With the Moose, he failed in the 2008 /09 season until the final of the Calder Cup at the Hershey Bears. He had signed with the team as a point best team in the league The regular season, so the franchise had first received the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy in its history. During the following season the Slovak made his debut for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, where Bliznak stood in two games on the ice and remained point and impunity. Also in the season 2010/11, the striker went mainly for the Manitoba Moose on the ice, where the links Sagittarius came to four inserts for the Vancouver Canucks during the season and scored his first goal in the NHL. In June 2011 he received a contract with the HC Sparta Prague in the Czech Extraliga.
Internationally
Bliznak played for Slovakia at the U18 World Youth Championship in 2005 and the U20 World Youth Championship in 2007. Both tournaments in six games, he scored a goal.
Awards and achievements
- 2006 President's Cup win with the Vancouver Giants
- 2007 Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants win
Internationally
- 2012 Silver medal at the World Championships
Statistics
(End of season 2010/11)