Ján Lašák (born April 10, 1979) is a Slovak former 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 ...

. Lašák was drafted by the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

of the

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(NHL) in the 2nd round (65th overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and spent the following four seasons in North America before returning to Europe in 2003.

Playing career

After Lašák was drafted by the Predators, he moved to North America and spent his first professional season with the

Hampton Roads Admirals The Hampton Roads Admirals were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL, East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). They played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope Arena from 1989 until 2000, when the owners purchased an expansion American Hockey ...

of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He had a stellar debut, posting a 36-17-4 record, and was named ECHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, as well as to the All-Rookie and First All-Star teams. He spent the majority of the following three seasons with Nashville's top minor league affiliate, the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

of the International Hockey League. He posted a 53-49-12 record with Milwaukee, earning some limited action with the Predators. However, he was unable to earn a permanent spot with the Predators, appearing in only 6 games for the team, and posting an 0-4 record. Due to his inability to stick with the Predators, Lašák decided to return to Europe and spent the 2003-04 season with SKA St. Petersburg of the Russian Super League. The following year Lašák moved to the

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to play with HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga, the team with which he would spend the next five seasons. He enjoyed much success with Pardubice, posting a 116-85-5 record and leading them to the league championship in 2004-05. Following his successful stint in the Czech Extraliga, Lašák spent the 2009-10 season with Atlant Mytishchi of the

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 ...

. He posted an 11-6-4 record as the team bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. He also spent part of the season on loan to HC Košice of the

Slovak Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

, appearing in 17 games for the club. Lašák signed a one-year contract with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

of the Finnish SM-liiga for the 2010-11 season. He posted a 14-11 record along with a .923 save percentage during the regular season, and despite his efforts including a .940 save percentage and 1.94 goals against average, Jokerit lost its quarterfinal series to

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. In 2011 Lašák returned to the KHL and signed for Amur Khabarovsk.

International play

Lašák has been a longtime mainstay of the Slovak national team. He has appeared in nine IIHF World Championships, two

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

, and one

World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every three to five years from 1976 Canada Cup, 1976 to 1991 Canada Cup, 1991 ...

for Slovakia. He backstopped Slovakia to its first and to date only gold medal at the 2002 IIHF World Championship in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, while also helping his country capture silver at the 2000 IIHF World Championship and bronze at the 2003 IIHF World Championship.

Personal life

From 2002 to 2015, Lašák was married to a volleyball player. They had two children. In 2024, Lašák married designer Romana Lašáková, with whom he has another two children.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

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Ján Lašák on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasak, Jan 1979 births Living people Amur Khabarovsk players Hampton Roads Admirals players Atlant Moscow Oblast players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HC Košice players HC Dynamo Pardubice players HC Spartak Moscow players Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Jokerit players Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators draft picks Nashville Predators players Olympic ice hockey players for Slovakia Ice hockey people from Zvolen SKA Saint Petersburg players Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Slovak ice hockey goaltenders Slovakia men's national ice hockey team coaches Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Finland 21st-century Slovak sportsmen