Bobby "The Geek" Holík (born January 1, 1971) is a

Czech-American Czech Americans ( cz, Čechoameričané), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority o ...

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 hock ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played 18 seasons in the

National Hockey League 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 ...

(NHL). Holík is the son of

Jaroslav Holík Jaroslav Holík (; August 3, 1942 – April 17, 2015) was a Czech professional ice hockey coach and former player. Career Holík played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga for Dukla Jihlava. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sap ...

, a Czechoslovak ice hockey world champion in 1972 and Czech national team head coach who led the under-20 team to world titles in 2000 and 2001. Holík is the current head coach of the

Israel men's national ice hockey team The Israel national ice hockey team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בהוקי קרח) is the national men's ice hockey team of Israel. Since 2015, the team's Captain has been Eliezer Sherbatov. Israel was ranked 35th as of May 2017 by the Internatio ...

Playing career

Holík began his NHL career playing for the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

in 1990 after being selected tenth overall by them in the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the pla ...

. After two seasons with the Whalers, he was traded to the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

where he played for ten seasons, featuring as a member of the " Crash Line" alongside Mike Peluso and

Randy McKay Hugh Randall McKay (born January 25, 1967) is a Canadian former professional hockey player. Playing the right wing position, he played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1988 to 2003 with the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Star ...

, and winning two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

championships, in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Prior to the 2002–03 season, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, Holík signed a five-year, $45 million contract with 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 ...

. In 2005, following the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, the Rangers bought out the remainder of Holík's contract, after which he signed with the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

. On October 2, 2007, he was named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Thrashers for the 2007–08 season. On July 1, 2008, as a free agent, Holík signed a one-year contract with the New Jersey Devils for the 2008–09 season, returning to the team he played ten seasons with. On May 23, 2009, following the conclusion of the 2008–09 season, Holík announced his retirement from the NHL. He was 38 when he retired and cited a focus to be with his family.

Personal life

Holík became an American citizen in a ceremony in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Holík's nephew,

David Musil David Musil (born April 9, 1993) is a Canadian born-Czech ice hockey player who is currently playing under contract to HC Oceláři Třinec in the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He was a second round selection of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2011 NHL Entry ...

, was drafted by 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 ...

. Holík is an avid rifle, pistol and shotgun enthusiast. After being introduced to firearms manufacturer CZ-USA's president Alice Poluchová by shooting instructor Shepard Humphries, Holík became CZ-USA's celebrity representative.

Awards and achievements

champion – 1994–95, 1999–2000 *

NHL All-Star The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

–

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holik, Bobby 1971 births Living people American people of Czech descent Atlanta Thrashers captains Atlanta Thrashers players Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Czech ice hockey centres Czechoslovak ice hockey centres Hartford Whalers draft picks Hartford Whalers players Israel men's national ice hockey team coaches National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils players New York Rangers players Sportspeople from Jihlava Stanley Cup champions Utica Devils players Czech expatriate sportspeople in Israel American expatriate sportspeople in Israel Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States