Jaroslav Balaštík (born November 28, 1979) is a Czech 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 ...

player who most notably played with HC Zlin in 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 ...

and the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

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).

Playing career

Coming through the Czech professional hockey ranks Balaštík was drafted as an overage player in the 6th round, 184th overall in the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

. After playing eight seasons (1997–2005) with HC Zlín in the

, and part of one season (2002–03) with

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 ...

in the Finnish

SM-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 ...

; Balaštík started 2005 season with the

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

, the Blue Jackets'

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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate. He was quickly promoted to the big club, where he became somewhat of a shootout-specialist, going 6-for-9 for the season. In his second season with the Blue Jackets and limited opportunity, on December 13, 2006, Balaštík was released and contracted by the Swedish

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

-based club HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien. In HV71, Balaštík played with his fellow countryman

Jan Hrdina Jan Hrdina (born February 5, 1976) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. Playing career Hrdina was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in the 5th round, 128th overall. In March 2003, the Pittsburgh Pengu ...

, with whom he has played previously in Columbus Blue Jackets in NHL. From 2007–08 he rejoined HC Zlin in the Czech Republic and played 5 of the past 6 seasons with the team, defecting to BK Mlada Boleslav for a single season in 2011–12. He closed out his career after three more seasons with the club, before moving to

HC Bílí Tygři Liberec Bílí Tygři Liberec (English: ''Liberec White Tigers'') are a professional ice hockey club based in Liberec, Czech Republic. The team competes in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of play in professional Czech ice hockey. History The firs ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* Named Best Forward in

in 2004–05.

Records

* Most goals scored in Czech Extraliga in seasons 2003–04 and 2004–05. * Most points in Czech Extraliga playoffs in season 2003–04. * Most goals scored in Czech Extraliga playoffs in season 2003–04.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balastik, Jaroslav 1979 births Living people HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players BK Mladá Boleslav players Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks Columbus Blue Jackets players Czech ice hockey right wingers PSG Berani Zlín players HPK players HV71 players People from Uherské Hradiště Syracuse Crunch players Ice hockey people from the Zlín Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden