Alexander Salák (born January 5, 1987) is a Czech professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

who most recently played for

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

of the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL). He played two games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

in 2009. Internationally Salák has played for the Czech national team at three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, and at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Playing career

Czech Republic

Alexander Salák started his career in IHC Pisek and moved to

HC České Budějovice HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

organization during the 2001/02 season. Salák played from 2002 to 2006 for Budějovice, playing in the U18 and U20 Championship leagues. During the 2005/06 season, he played 2 games for HC Strakonice, a Czech Second National League-team. In the following season, Salák spent the entire season playing for

HC Tábor HC Tábor is an ice hockey team in Tábor, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to ...

at the same level.

Finland

Alexander Salák was contracted to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 2006, when he played for

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

team

Jokipojat Joensuun Kiekko-Pojat is a Finnish semi-professional ice hockey team that plays in the Mestis, the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The club has spent three seasons in the top flight of Finnish hockey, season 1971–72 in SM-sa ...

on the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland. For the next season he was contracted to

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

side

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

. In TPS, Salák is coached by TPS Goaltending Coach,

Urpo Ylönen Urpo Yrjö Juhani Ylönen (born 25 May 1943 in Käkisalmi, Finland) is a goaltending coach and a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for TuTo and TPS. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fa ...

who has coached top Finnish goalies like

Miikka Kiprusoff Miikka Sakari Kiprusoff (; born October 26, 1976), nicknamed "Kipper", is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames between 2000 and 2013. He was select ...

, Fredrik Norrena and

Antero Niittymäki Antero Pertti Elias Niittymäki (; born June 18, 1980) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for TPS of the SM-liiga (Finnish elite league). He additionally played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the ...

in the past.

National Hockey League

On May 29, 2009, Alexander Salák was signed by the

of the NHL. He was assigned to their AHL farm team, the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

after training camp. He was recalled by the Panthers and made his NHL debut on October 9, 2009 in a relief role in a game against the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

. On August 13, 2010, Alexander Salák was loaned to

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserie ...

of the Swedish Elite League for the 2010-11 season. On February 9, 2011, Salák was traded by the Panthers to the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

, along with forward

Michael Frolík Michael Frolík (; born 17 February 1988) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for Rytíři Kladno in the Czech Extraliga. Frolík has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Florida Panthers, the organization t ...

for

Jack Skille Jack Skille (born May 19, 1987) is an American former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanch ...

, Hugh Jessiman, and David Pacan. On May 31, 2011, Salák was signed by the Blackhawks to a two-year contract. On June 18, 2012, the Blackhawks released Salák from his contract.

Kontinental Hockey League

He made his

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

debut playing with

SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

during the

2013–14 KHL season The 2013–14 KHL season was the sixth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The league's 28 teams played a 54-game balanced schedule. The regular season began on 4 September with the Lokomotiv Cup between last year's finalists Dynamo Moscow ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salak, Alexander 1987 births Living people Czech ice hockey goaltenders Dinamo Riga players Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Färjestad BK players Florida Panthers players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players HC Sparta Praha players HC Tábor players HC TPS players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Jokipojat players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Sportspeople from Strakonice Rochester Americans players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players SKA Saint Petersburg players Undrafted National Hockey League players Ice hockey people from the South Bohemian Region Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Latvia 21st-century Czech sportsmen