Jaroslav Hlinka

Jaroslav Hlinka (born November 10, 1976 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche. He is currently the Sports manager for his longtime club, HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga.

Jaroslav Hlinka
Born (1976-11-10) November 10, 1976
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for HC Sparta Praha
Kloten Flyers
Ak Bars Kazan
Colorado Avalanche
Linköpings HC
HC Plzeň
National team  Czech Republic
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1994–2019

Playing career

Hlinka began playing ice hockey at the age of four. When he was fourteen, HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga offered him a chance on their junior team and he accepted.

From 1994 to 2007, Hlinka mostly played for HC Sparta Praha in the Extraliga, scoring 110 goals and winning the Czech Championship four times (2000, 2002, 2006 and 2007). From 2002 to 2006 he played for three seasons with Kloten Flyers in the Swiss Nationalliga A and one season with Ak Bars Kazan in the now defunct Russian Super League.

On June 1, 2007, Hlinka signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL.[1] He made his NHL debut with the Avalanche on October 3, 2007, during the season opener, scoring his first NHL points as part of a 2-assist game against the Dallas Stars.[2] He scored his first NHL goal on October 23, 2007 against the Edmonton Oilers.[3] After a bright start Hlinka's opportunities with the Avalanche diminished as the season wore on, however, he finished the 2007–08 season with a modest 28 points in 63 games.

In May 2008 he signed a two-year contract with Linköpings HC in the Swedish Elitserien. In 2008–09, his first season with Linköpings, Jaroslav led the team in scoring with 55 points finishing with the most assists in the Elitserien. After starting the 2009–10 season on loan to hometown club Sparta Praha, Hlinka returned to Linköpings to score 50 points in 41 games before losing to Djurgårdens IF in the playoff semi-finals.[4]

On August 8, 2012, Hlinka again returned to the Czech Extraliga to begin the season for a fourth consecutive year, added with the option of potentially remaining with HC Sparta Praha for the duration of the 2012–13 season.[5]

Following the 2018–19 season, Hlinka ended his 25 year professional career, finishing as HC Sparta Praha's All-time leading scorer. He immediately was announced to remain in the organization as the club's sporting manager.[6]

International play
Medal record
Representing  Czech Republic
Ice hockey
World Championships
2001 Nuremberg
2006 Riga

Hlinka played his first game in the national squad in 1999, and has played 114 times for the national team[7] Hlinka has represented the Czech Republic seven times in the World Championships. He won a Gold medal at the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2001, along with a Silver medal at the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2006.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1994–95 HC Sparta Praha CZE 5 0 2 2 2 — — — — —
1995–96 HC Sparta Praha CZE 18 3 1 4 4 11 1 4 5 0
1996–97 HC Sparta Praha CZE 44 8 18 26 12 7 0 0 0 0
1997–98 HC Sparta Praha CZE 50 18 18 36 24 11 2 6 8 8
1998–99 HC Sparta Praha CZE 40 9 24 33 22 6 1 2 3 0
1999–00 HC Sparta Praha CZE 49 20 37 57 51 8 2 3 5 10
2000–01 HC Sparta Praha CZE 45 12 17 29 28 13 2 9 11 12
2001–02 HC Sparta Praha CZE 52 16 45 61 54 13 9 6 15 4
2002–03 Kloten Flyers NLA 41 18 30 48 16 — — — — —
2003–04 Kloten Flyers NLA 43 18 24 42 33 — — — — —
2004–05 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 36 4 16 20 10 1 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Kloten Flyers NLA 37 12 24 36 18 — — — — —
2005–06 HC Sparta Praha CZE 9 3 8 11 14 17 10 6 16 10
2006–07 HC Sparta Praha CZE 46 19 38 57 46 16 4 12 16 38
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 63 8 20 28 16 1 0 0 0 0
2008–09 Linköpings HC SEL 54 12 43 55 16 7 1 2 3 6
2009–10 HC Sparta Praha CZE 20 5 10 15 16 — — — — —
2009–10 Linköpings HC SEL 41 13 37 50 12 12 4 4 8 2
2010–11 HC Sparta Praha CZE 9 1 4 5 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Linköpings HC SEL 43 11 29 40 12 7 1 4 5 0
2011–12 HC Plzeň CZE 13 4 4 8 6 — — — — —
2011–12 Linköpings HC SEL 42 5 17 22 6 — — — — —
2012–13 HC Sparta Praha CZE 52 15 36 51 22 7 0 2 2 0
2013–14 HC Sparta Praha CZE 50 17 45 62 36 12 4 7 11 8
2014–15 HC Sparta Praha CZE 48 17 33 50 32 10 5 6 11 6
2015–16 HC Sparta Praha CZE 37 14 22 36 10 17 10 7 17 14
2016–17 HC Sparta Praha CZE 44 11 25 36 24 4 1 2 3 0
2017–18 HC Sparta Praha CZE 41 2 15 17 6 3 0 1 1 2
2018–19 HC Vrchlabí Czech.2 8 1 6 7 0 — — — — —
2018–19 HC Sparta Praha CZE 5 2 1 3 0 4 0 0 0 2
CZE totals 677 196 402 598 409 164 52 74 126 116
NLA totals 121 48 78 126 67 — — — — —
RSL totals 36 4 16 20 10 1 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 63 8 20 28 16 1 0 0 0 0
SHL totals 180 41 126 167 46 26 6 10 16 8

[8][9]

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2001 Czech Republic WC 9 0 1 1 2
2002 Czech Republic WC 5th 7 1 5 6 2
2003 Czech Republic WC 4th 9 2 1 3 6
2004 Czech Republic WC 5th 2 0 1 1 2
2006 Czech Republic WC 9 2 4 6 2
2007 Czech Republic WC 7th 7 3 4 7 0
2008 Czech Republic WC 5th 6 1 3 4 2
2009 Czech Republic WC 6th 7 1 2 3 4
Senior totals 56 10 21 31 20

References
  1. "Avalanche sign free agent prospect". Colorado Avalanche. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  2. "Stastny records hat trick as Avs start another season with win". ESPN. 2007-10-03. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  3. "Avalanche make Smyth's return to Edmonton positive one". CBS Sports. 2007-10-23. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  4. "Czechs debut tomorrow" (in Swedish). Linköpings HC. 2009-10-25. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  5. "Good Pigeons return! Jaroslav Hlinka to Sparta". hokej.cz (in Czech). 2012-08-08. Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  6. "Jaroslav Hlinka moves on to next chapter of career". HC Sparta Praha. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  7. "Jaroslav Hlinka international stats". hockey.cz (in Czech). 2009-03-20. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  8. "Jaroslav Hlinka - player profile and career stats". European Hockey.Net. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  9. "NHL.com - Players - Jaroslav Hlinka". NHL.com. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.