Mário Bližňák (born 6 March 1987) 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 ...

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. He previously played for the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

of 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 ...

(NHL). After playing in 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 ...

, Bližňák was selected by the Canucks in the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL entry draft was the 43rd entry draft for the National Hockey League. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, it was postponed to July 30 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Special procedures were required to determine the order ...

, and moved to North America, joining the

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team playing based in Langley, British Columbia, and playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Founded in 2001, the Giants won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions in 2006 and th ...

of the

major junior Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National List of members of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's nationa ...

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

(WHL) in 2005. Bližňák played three seasons with the Giants, helping them win the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

, the national championship for major junior hockey in Canada, in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, before joining the Moose in 2008. He is best known as a defensive forward.

Playing career

Bližňák began playing

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

in his native

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

with Dubnica Spartak HC's under-18 and junior teams. After appearing in 19 games with Dubnica's senior team of the

as a seventeen-year-old in 2004–05, he was drafted by the

in the seventh round, 205th overall, in the

. Bližňák was also drafted that off-season 27th overall by the

of the

in the 2005 CHL Import Draft. He subsequently moved to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to continue to play junior for the Giants. In three seasons with the Giants, Bližňák helped the club to a WHL championship as part of a 21-point rookie campaign in 2005–06 and a

championship in

. Following his Memorial Cup victory with the Giants, he signed his first

NHL 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 ...

contract with the Canucks. Bližňák returned to the Giants the following season and posted a WHL career-high 51 points in 67 games. Graduating from junior, he was assigned by the Canucks to their AHL affiliate, the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

, for the 2008–09 season. Playing alongside linemate and veteran

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Mike Keane Michael John Keane (born May 29, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), winger. Undrafted, Keane played over 1,100 games in the National Hockey League from 1988 until 2004. He then played five seasons ...

most of the season, he recorded 7 goals and 16 points in 64 games, second among team rookies. Bližňák and the Moose made it to the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

finals that season but lost to the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

in six games. Bližňák scored the lone goal for the Moose in the decisive game six. Bližňák earned his first NHL call-up with the Canucks the following season in 2009–10 on 30 October 2009, after an injury to fellow Moose call-up

Alexandre Bolduc Alexandre Bolduc (born June 26, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Bolduc played major junior hockey, major junior in the Quebec Major Jun ...

. He played two games with the Canucks before being sent back to rejoin the Moose, where he recorded 13 goals and 28 points over 76 games. His +7 rating ranked first on the Moose. He also added three points in six post-season games as the Moose were eliminated in the first round by the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the Bulldogs played home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purc ...

. After becoming a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in some sports leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the term ...

in the off-season, he re-signed with the Canucks to a one-year contract on 4 August 2010. He started the 2010–11 season with the Moose, appearing in thirteen games and scoring four points, before the Canucks recalled him on 10 November 2010. One day after the call up to the Canucks, Bližňák scored his first NHL career goal against

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

goaltender

Pascal Leclaire Pascal Leclaire (born November 7, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Leclaire was selected in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets and played in the Blue Jackets' o ...

on a one-timer pass from winger Tanner Glass. The Canucks won the game 6–2. He played in four games with the Canucks before being returned to the AHL, where he finished the regular season with 11 goals and 27 points over 74 games. During the 2011 playoffs, he added a goal and an assist over 14 games, helping the Moose to the second round, where they were eliminated by the

. The Canucks chose not to renew his contract in the off-season as he was not given a qualifying offer.

International play

Bližňák played for Slovakia in the 2007 World Junior Championships. He tallied 1 goal in 6 games as Slovakia failed to advance from the preliminaries.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliznak, Mario 1987 births Living people HC Benátky nad Jizerou players HC Bílí Tygři Liberec players HC Plzeň players HC Slovan Bratislava players HC Sparta Praha players HK Dubnica players HK Dukla Trenčín players Ice hockey people from Trenčín Manitoba Moose players Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Slovak ice hockey centres Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Vancouver Giants players 21st-century Slovak sportsmen