Michael Špaček (born 9 April 1997) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He currently plays with HC Ambri-Piotta in 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). Špaček was born in

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; german: Marienbad) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th centu ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, but grew up in Dašice,

Playing career

Špaček made his

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 ...

debut playing with

HC Pardubice HC Dynamo Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. Its home venue is Enteria arena located in Pardubice. The club was originally named LTC Pardubice, acquiring its current name at the start of the 2015� ...

at age 17, during the 2013–14 season. Špaček had played as a youth within the Pardubice organization since 2010. In his first full professional campaign with Pardubice in 2014–15, Špaček contributed 12 points in 40 games. Spacek was selected in the 4th round, 108th overall by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

in the

2015 NHL Entry Draft The 2015 NHL Entry Draft was the 53rd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 26–27, 2015, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The first three selections were Connor McDavid going to the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Eichel going to the Buffa ...

. Špaček competed for the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

of the WHL, during the 2015–16 season. On 2 June 2017, after two seasons with Red Deer, Špaček completed his junior career by agreeing to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets. During the 2019–20 season, re-assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, Špaček appeared in 45 games posting 20 points assists before he was re-assigned by the Jets to join the

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays i ...

, primary affiliate of the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, on loan for the remainder of the season on 2 March 2020. Špaček failed to appear in a game with the Reign due to injury before the season was prematurely ended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. As an impending restricted free agent from the Jets, Špaček opted to halt his NHL aspirations by agreeing to a one-year contract in Finland 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, ...

of the

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 ...

on 4 August 2020. His rights were later relinquished by the Jets on 4 October 2020. In the 2020–21 season, Špaček registered 5 goals and 13 points through 18 regular season games with Tappara before leaving the club to return to the Czech Republic in joining

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 ...

of the ELH for the remainder of the season on 26 January 2021. Špaček made an immediate impact with Třinec, collecting 14 points in 16 playoff games to help the club claim the Championship. As a free agent, Špaček joined his third European club within the year, agreeing to a two-year contract with Swedish outfit Frölunda HC of the SHL on 3 May 2021.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spacek, Michael 1997 births Living people HC Ambrì-Piotta players Czech ice hockey right wingers HC Dynamo Pardubice players Manitoba Moose players HC Oceláři Třinec players Red Deer Rebels players People from Mariánské Lázně Tappara players Winnipeg Jets draft picks Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of the Czech Republic Sportspeople from the Karlovy Vary Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland