Michael Siklenka (born December 18, 1979) is a Canadian 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played 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) for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Playing career

Siklenka was played major junior hockey with the

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in ac ...

of 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 ...

before he was drafted 118th overall in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. He played in two NHL games, one with the

and the other with the

before opting for a European career in playing for

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...

of the Swedish Allsvenskan,

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fi ...

of 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 ...

, and EC KAC and

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the highe ...

of the Austrian EBEL. On July 2, 2010, Siklenka signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL. He was unable to make the Thrashers opening night roster and was reassigned to

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, the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

, to start the 2010–11 season. 36 games with the Wolves, Siklenka sought a release from his contract and returned for a second spell with EC KAC of the EBEL on January 27, 2011. Siklenka was a member of Team Canada for the

2007 Spengler Cup The 2007 Spengler Cup was held in Davos, Switzerland from December 26 to December 31, 2007. All matches were played at host HC Davos's home Vaillant Arena. The final was won 2-1 by Team Canada over Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Teams participating * Te ...

Personal life

Siklenka has a wife (Jolene) and two kids (Rain and Jones).

Career statistics

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Wolves players Hampton Roads Admirals players Sportspeople from Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan EC KAC players Leksands IF players Lloydminster Blazers players Lukko players New York Rangers players Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Portland Pirates players EC Red Bull Salzburg players Richmond Renegades players Seattle Thunderbirds players Trenton Titans players Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players Washington Capitals draft picks Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1970s-stub