Michal Birner (born 2 March 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, ...

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 who is currently playing for

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 ...

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 ...

(ELH).

Playing career

Birner was drafted 116th overall 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, ...

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 s ...

. Prior to being drafted in the NHL, Birner was a CHL Import Draft-

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League, based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Pre-OHL history There were two previous Barrie Colts teams which played Junior A & B hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association, one from 1 ...

1st Round(8th) 2004 On 15 December 2007, the Blues traded Birner, along with

Doug Weight Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant general manager for the New York Islanders. During his 19-year National Hockey ...

and a 7th round draft choice to the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

for Andy McDonald. Birner was assigned to the Ducks affiliate, the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...

where he remained for the rest of the 2007–08 season. Birner started the 2008–09 season with the

Iowa Chops The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

before he was assigned to ECHL affiliate the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home g ...

on 20 November 2008. Birner didn't report to the Condors and returned to Europe to play in the Finnish SM-liiga with

Pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

on 27 November 2008. Birner's season was cut short as he suffered a fractured hand after playing in only 6 games. On 7 July 2009, Birner was signed by TPS for the 2009–10 season. After two seasons with HC Lev Prague of 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 ...

, with the team unable to offer him a new contract due to financial bankruptcy, Birner returned to continue his professional career in Finland, joining his third Liiga club KalPa on a one-year deal on 15 July 2014.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1986 births Barrie Colts players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players Czech ice hockey forwards HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Iowa Stars players KalPa players HC Lev Praha players Living people Lahti Pelicans players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Portland Pirates players Saginaw Spirit players St. Louis Blues draft picks HC Slavia Praha players HC TPS players Traktor Chelyabinsk players People from Litoměřice Ice hockey people from the Ústí nad Labem Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland {{CzechRepublic-icehockey-winger-stub