Aleš Kotalík (born 23 December 1978) is a former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, who is Assistant GM for HC Mountfield České Budějovice of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The le ...

Playing career

Kotalík was drafted 164th overall by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. In the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Natio ...

, he had a career high in 25 goals, 37 assists and 62 points. The recent 2006–07 NHL season he was 5 for 7 in shootouts and second in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with four shootout deciding goals. He was out for 16 games because of an injured right knee. In the Calgary Flames All-Star games, he showed his ability to strike hard with a slap shot speed of 105.3 being the second hardest shooter in the NHL. On 4 March 2009, Kotalík was traded by the Sabres to the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Kotalík finished the season in Edmonton before being signed as a free agent by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

on 9 July 2009 to a three-year, $9 million contract. Due to his lack of goal scoring, which he was expected to bring and being a healthy scratch for numerous games, he was traded on 1 February 2010 to the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

along with Chris Higgins in exchange for

Olli Jokinen Olli Veli Pekka Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for th ...

and

Brandon Prust Brandon Raymond James Prust (born March 16, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. Prust was drafted in the third round, 70th overall, by the Calgary Flames in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and has played in the NHL for the ...

. Placed on waivers in the off-season by the Calgary Flames, Kotalík cleared waivers on 29 June 2010. At the time, he had two years and $6 million remaining on his contract. On 27 January 2011, he was placed back on waivers by the Flames and subsequently assigned to the

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. On 25 June, along with

Robyn Regehr Robyn Regehr (born April 19, 1980) is a Brazilian-born Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was a first round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, selected 19th overall at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, but was traded to the Calgary ...

and a second round 2012 draft pick, Kotalík was traded back to the Sabres for Paul Byron and Chris Butler. On 24 September 2011, Kotalík was placed on waivers by the Buffalo Sabres in a salary cap move. After initially reporting to the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

, Kotalík instead returned to his hometown in the Czech Republic to play for HC Mountfield České Budějovice.

International play

Kotalík played his first game for the national team in 2000, and has played 21 times for the Czech national team including the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

and the 2008 and 2009

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

.Stats at hokej.cz

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotalik, Ales 1978 births Abbotsford Heat players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Calgary Flames players Czech ice hockey right wingers Edmonton Oilers players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players KLH Vajgar Jindřichův Hradec players Motor České Budějovice players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic New York Rangers players Rochester Americans players People from Jindřichův Hradec Living people Sportspeople from the South Bohemian Region