Marek Schwarz (born April 1, 1986) 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 h ...

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 ...

currently playing for the HC Sparta Prague.

Playing career

As a youth, Schwarz played in the 2000

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a team from Chomutov. He played junior ice hockey in his native Czech Republic with

HC Sparta Praha Hockey Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as HC Sparta Prague, is a Prague-based Czech ice hockey team playing in the Czech Extraliga. The club has won four Czech championships (most recently in 2007) and four Czechoslovak championships, as w ...

. He made his debut at the senior level with Sparta Praha playing one game 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 le ...

in 2002–03. The following season, he joined the Extraliga full-time at seventeen-years-old and played between three teams – HC Plzeň,

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 Stee ...

and Sparta Praha. That off-season, Schwarz was drafted 17th overall by the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout ...

. Upon being drafted, he moved to North America to play

major junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL) with the

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup (now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in t ...

. He posted a 2.67 GAA and a winning record before moving back to the Czech Republic the following season to continue to play for Sparta Praha. In 2006–07, he began playing for the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

, the Blues'

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 ...

(AHL) affiliate. He was called up that season and played in his first NHL game on December 12, 2006, against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. Schwarz made 21 saves on 24 shots as the Blues lost 3–2. At 20 years old, he became the third youngest goaltender in Blues history to play in a game. On October 25, 2008, Schwarz combined with third-string goalie

Ben Bishop Benjamin Manning Bishop III (born November 21, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender under contract to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bishop previously played for the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Se ...

for a 4-0 shutout against the Florida Panthers. With

Manny Legacé Emmanuel Legace (born February 4, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, who played most notably in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, and later the St. Louis Blues. Legace also enjoyed spells with the L ...

and Chris Mason out due to injuries, Schwarz was called up to play backup to Bishop when Bishop also went down with an injury in the third period. Schwarz completed the shutout with 15 minutes to go.

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Marek 1986 births Living people BK Mladá Boleslav players Czech ice hockey goaltenders HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HC Oceláři Třinec players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Sportspeople from Mladá Boleslav Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Vancouver Giants players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland