Marek Tvrdoň (born 31 January 1993) is a Slovak ice hockey winger who is currently playing for HC Nove Zamky of the Slovak Extraliga. Tvrdoň was drafted 115th overall by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

in the

2011 NHL Entry Draft The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the Draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars hoste ...

Playing career

Junior

Born in Nitra, Slovakia, Tvrdon developed with his hometown's HK Nitra junior program. Beginning at the under-18 level in 2007–08, he went on to the under-20 level two years later, scoring 56 points (25 goals and 31 assists) over 45 games. During the 2009–10 season, he also played six games with HK Nitra's men's team in the Slovak Extraliga. During the subsequent 2010–11 season, Tvrdon moved to North America to play for the major junior Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He began the campaign with 11 points (6 goals and 5 assists) in 12 games before suffering a shoulder injury in mid-October 2010. The following month, he underwent season-ending surgery. In the off-season, he was selected 115th overall in the

by the

. Giant general manager Scott Bonner speculated that if he had played the full season prior to the draft, he would have been selected much higher, perhaps as a "first or second-round pick". Tvrdon has been described as a player with size and skill, while Giants head coach

Don Hay Don Hay (born February 13, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and National Hockey League head coach. As a player, Hay played shortly in the International Hockey League before becoming a three-time Memorial Cup-winning ...

listed his work ethic as a weakness following his first WHL season. On January 8, 2014 Tvrdoň was traded by the Vancouver Giants to the Kelowna Rockets for a second-round pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft.

Professional

On July 3, 2012, Tvrdoň signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings. During the final season of his entry-level deal with the Red Wings in 2015–16, Tvrdoň was unable to make an impact within the organization and was primarily assigned to secondary affiliate, the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. On December 19, 2015, he was placed on unconditional waivers, in order to mutually terminate his contract. He returned to Slovakia and on December 22, 2015, signed a contract for the remainder of the season with HC Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League. Tvrdoň was unable to establish himself in Bratislava, featuring in just 4 scoreless games. On August 30, 2016, Tvrdoň opted to return to North America as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. After a spell with HK Nitra in Slovakia, Tvrdoň agreed a deal to move to the Edinburgh Capitals in September 2017. Tvrdoň has since had spells with MsHK Žilina, Saryarka Karagandy, EC KAC, Nottingham Panthers,

KS Cracovia {{Short description, Sports club based in Kraków Cracovia is a multi-sports club in Kraków, Poland. Its teams include: *MKS Cracovia Miejski Klub Sportowy Cracovia Sportowa Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known simply as MKS Cracovia or Cracovia ...

and Dizel Penza. He re-joined HK Nitra for the 2020-21 season.

International play

Tvrdon represented with Slovakia at the

2010 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships was the 12th edition of the IIHF World U18 Championship. The tournament was held in Minsk and Babruysk, Belarus, between April 13 and April 23, 2010. Tournament games were played at the Minsk Sports Palace in ...

, where he recorded three goals and one assist in six games. Two years later, he represented Slovakia's national junior team at the

2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship (commonly known as the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It began on Decemb ...

, where he recorded three goals and one assist in six games, finishing as the second-leading goal scorer on the team. Slovakia finished sixth in the tournament after losing their quarterfinal and the fifth place consolation match.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tvrdon, Marek 1993 births Detroit Red Wings draft picks Edinburgh Capitals players Cracovia (ice hockey) players Grand Rapids Griffins players HC Slovan Bratislava players Indy Fuel players HK Nitra players Nottingham Panthers players Living people Ice hockey people from Nitra Slovak ice hockey forwards Toledo Walleye players Dizel Penza players Vancouver Giants players MsHK Žilina players Saryarka Karagandy players Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in England Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Kazakhstan Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Poland Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland