Dominik Hrachovina (born 29 August 1994) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. He is currently playing for Motor 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 leag ...

(ELH)

Playing career

Hrachovina made his

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

debut playing with

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

during the

2012–13 SM-liiga season The 2012–13 SM-liiga season was the 38th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by Ässät Pori who defeated Tappara Tampere in the finals. Teams * Head coaches m ...

. However, he would be a backup goalie in official matches until the 2014-15 season, when he played a

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

match against

HC Oceláři Třinec HC Oceláři Třinec (''Třinec Steelers'') is a Czech ice hockey team from Třinec who play in the Czech Extraliga, the top tier of Czech ice hockey. Their home arena is the Werk Arena. The team's main sponsors are the local Třinec Iron and Steel ...

Třinec Třinec (; pl, Trzyniec ; german: Trzynietz) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants and is the least populated statutory city in the country. The city is an ...

, Czech Republic. He had 31 saves and allowed only one goal in a 2-1 victory. Later in the same season, he played another CHL game and three regular season matches in SM-liiga. In the

2015–16 Liiga season The 2015–16 Liiga season was the 41st season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season Top six advanced straight to quarter-finals, while teams betw ...

he gained some attention as he played 19 regular season matches, two of which on loan in

HPK Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...

, and also two play-off matches as Tappara went all the way to the championship. In the 2016-17 Liiga season, Hrachovina finally gained the position of primary starting goalie of Tappara and led his team to another championship. His contract ended with Tappara in 2018. After spending the 2018–19 season in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

, featuring in 22 games with Kazakh based

Barys Astana Hockey Club Barys ( kk, Барыс хоккей клубы , translit=Barys Hokkei Kluby), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey team based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is one of the founding members of the Kontine ...

. Hrachovina left as a free agent, and signed to an initial 3-month contract with Swiss club,

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL) on 8 July 2019. He was signed to provide cover for injured Goaltender

Benjamin Conz Benjamin Conz (born September 13, 1991) is a Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for HC Ambrì-Piotta of the National League (NL). He was eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but went undrafted ...

. After 7 games with Bern, Hrachovina left the club and returned to his native Czech Republic in signing for the remainder of the season with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the ELH. Hrachovina returned the 2020–2021 season to the Tappara, Finnish Championship League (Liiga) with a two-year contract.

Personal

Hrachovina, who came to Finland at the age of 16, speaks fluent

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. He has said that after his first season in Finland, he decided to learn to speak the local language and that the learning process took a year.

Awards and achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hrachovina, Dominik 1994 births Living people HC Ambrì-Piotta players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HPK players Tappara players Lempäälän Kisa players Czech ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Brno Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate ice hockey players in Kazakhstan Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland