Milan HniliÄka
Milan Hnilička ( born June 25, 1973 in Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech professional ice hockey goaltender who stands since 2010 when BK Mladá Boleslav of the Czech first league as a sports manager under contract. During his long career in North America, he has played in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers and Los Angeles Kings.
Career
Milan Hnilička began his career with HC Kladno, for whom he debuted in the 1989/90 season in the first Czechoslovak league. During the NHL Entry Draft in 1991, he was selected in the fourth round to 70th out of the New York Islanders. His first stop in North America were the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, where he graduated from the 1992/93 season. In the following two years he played with the Richmond Renegades, Salt Lake Golden Eagles and Denver Grizzlies. In the summer of 1995, he returned to the Czech Republic back to HC Kladno. Two years later he moved within the league for HC Sparta Prague, before the New York Rangers in 1999 as a free agent in their farm team brought him to Hartford. In the 1999/2000 season, he made his NHL debut for the Rangers and at the end of the season won the Calder Cup Hnilička with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
In the summer of 2000, the contract ran out with the Rangers and Milan Hnilička moved to the Atlanta Thrashers, where the training camp he prevailed over standard Maracle and back-up of goalkeeper Damian Rhodes was. In the following season, Rhodes was plagued with injuries, so Hnilička became the first-choice goalkeeper, and in 60 games reached a quota of 90.8 %. After he had spent most of the season 2002 / 03, spent the farm team of the Thrashers, the Chicago Wolves, he was released to the Los Angeles Kings in September 2003. But he could also at the Kings not prevail and completed only two NHL games. After that, he was employed at the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL. December 31, 2003 he was injured in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes at the finger and recovered to the end of the season no longer of this injury.
Since it was not a new NHL contract offered in the summer of 2004 and the NHL lockout was already clear to Hnilička decided a change in the home to the White Tigers Liberec, for whom he played until the fall of 2007. After that, he was obliged by the Russian Super league club Salavat Yulaev Ufa, but returned in the summer of 2008 back to Liberec. After the 2008/ 09 season, he got a new contract and was initially without a club. Only in December 2009, he was obliged by HC Slavia Prague, but after three appearances for Slavia his contract mid-January 2010 was dissolved.
In 2010 he finished his playing career and was sports manager at BK Mladá Boleslav.
Internationally
Milan Hnilička has participated in all major international championships during his career. His first successes came in the jersey of the U18 national team of Czechoslovakia, when he was voted the best goalkeeper award at the U18 European Championship in 1991 and elected to the All- Star team. A year later, at the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville in 1992, he belonged to the squad of the Czechoslovak national team that won the bronze medal, but did not play.
After the division of his homeland, he won the Czech national team several bronze medals at world championships. The greatest success of his career was winning the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, although it was used in any game.
A year later he won the Czech selection the world title as a goalkeeper, and was able to repeat this success in 2001 and 2005. In February 2006, he won the bronze medal of the Winter Olympics in Turin, where he was the goalkeeper Tomáš Vokoun items with parted. In the same year he won another World Championship medal, this time silver medal.
Awards and achievements
- 2000: Winning the Harry " Hap " Holmes Memorial Award (jointly with Jean -François Labbé )
- 2000: Winning the Calder Cup with Hartford
- 2001: World Champion
- 2005: Award for the best goalkeeper of the Czech Extraliga 2004/ 05
- 2005: World Champion
- 2006: Bronze medal at the Olympics in Turin
- 2006: Vice-World Champion
- 2007: Best catch quota Extraliga 2006/ 07