Mark Adam Dekanich (born May 10, 1986) is a Croatian 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 ...

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 ...

. He was selected by the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

in the fifth round (146th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

As a youth, Dekanich 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

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team from

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. He later played four years of collegiate hockey at Colgate University. During his sophomore season at Colgate, Dekanich started 36 of Colgate’s 39 games where he set a then-school-record of 988 saves. He ranked first in the ECACHL conference for the 2005–06 season with a .924 save percentage and was subsequently named to the all-ECAC first team and won the Ken Dryden Award as the ECAC Goaltender of the Year. In his junior season, Dekanich started 36 of Colgate’s 40 games where he broke his single-season saves record with .993. Although his postseason ended early due to injury, he was selected to the all-ECAC second team and ECAC all-academic team. As a senior during the 2007–08 season, he was named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS All-Senior All-America first team and Selected to the all-ECAC Hockey third team. At the conclusion of the season he signed an entry level contract with the

. On December 3, 2010, the

called Dekanich up from the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

, however he did not make his

NHL 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 ...

debut until December 18, 2010 when he played 50 minutes against 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 ...

in relief of the Predators' starter

Anders Lindbäck Anders Lindbäck (born 3 May 1988) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has previously played for the Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas S ...

. On July 3, 2011, Dekanich was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

. However, he missed the majority of the 2011–12 season recovering from reconstructive ankle surgery. On July 6, 2012, Dekanich left the Blue Jackets organization and signed as a free agent to a one-year, contract with 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 ...

. On May 20, 2013, Dekanich signed his first European contract with Croatian team KHL Medveščak, which competed in the KHL for the 2013–14 season. After two seasons in Zagreb, Dekanich returned to North America, signing a one-year ECHL contract with the South Carolina Stingrays on September 10, 2015. He was invited to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, training camp prior to the 2015–16 season, and was signed to an AHL contract with the club before he was returned to the Stingrays on October 15, 2015. On August 18, 2016, Dekanich signed an AHL contract with the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey Lea ...

. He most recently played for the

Reading Royals The Reading Royals are a professional ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the North Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Royals play their home games at the Santander Arena located in downtown R ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

. In November 2018, Dekanich announced his retirement on Twitter. He currently runs his own strength and conditioning business by the name of Dexshow High Performance.

Records

Dekanich currently holds the Milwaukee Admirals single season records in both save percentage (0.931) and goals against average (2.02).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honours

References

External links

*
Twitter.com: Mark Dekanich Twitter Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dekanich, Mark 1986 births Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Croatia Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian people of Croatian descent Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) players Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey players Croatian ice hockey goaltenders Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from British Columbia KHL Medveščak Zagreb players Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Living people Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators draft picks Nashville Predators players Reading Royals players South Carolina Stingrays players Sportspeople from North Vancouver Springfield Falcons players St. John's IceCaps players