Phil Oreskovic

Phil Oreskovic (pronounced Or-esh-ko-vich; born January 26, 1987) is a retired professional Canadian ice hockey defenceman.

Phil Oreskovic
Born (1987-01-26) January 26, 1987
North York, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
ECHL team
Former teams		 Brampton Beast
Toronto Maple Leafs
Nottingham Panthers
NHL Draft 82nd overall, 2005
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 2007–2014

Phil's father was born in Croatia and emigrated to Canada in 1962[1] and he fluently speaks Croatian.[2]

Playing career

As a youth, Oreskovic played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Marlboros minor ice hockey team.[3]

Oreskovic was drafted 82nd overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil played in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion and the Owen Sound Attack before turning professional at the end of the 2006–07 season with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

On June 1, 2007, Oreskovic was signed by the Maple Leafs to a three-year entry level contract.[4] He then started out the 2007–08 season with Columbia Inferno of the ECHL before making his way up to the Leafs main affiliate the Marlies.

Oreskovic started the 2008–09 season with the Marlies before being recalled by the Maple Leafs on March 9, 2009.[5] Phil made his NHL debut with the Leafs on the same day, a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, and became the 400th ECHL player to reach the NHL.[6] On March 24, 2009, Oreskovic scored his first NHL goal against José Théodore of the Washington Capitals in a 3-2 victory.[7]

He spent the 2009–10 season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies playing a career high 74 games, while scoring 2 goals and getting 7 assists. In the 2010 offseason, Oreskovic was not offered a contract extension by the Toronto Maple Leafs, thus being acquired as a free agent by the Washington Capitals. He signed a professional tryout contract (PTO) in September 2010 and is currently playing for the Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears.

Upon joining the Bears organization, Bears forward Johann Kroll was already wearing the uniform #4 and then goaltender Semyon Varlamov was already wearing the uniform #40 (at the time), therefore Oreskovic chose to wear the uniform #32. Oreskovic wore the uniform #4 with the Brampton Battalion, Owen Sound Attack, Columbia Inferno and the Toronto Marlies, and wore the uniform #40 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On August 6, 2013, Oreskovic re-signed to a one-year contract for a second season with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye[8] but would leave the team after ten games into the season.

After a season abroad in the Elite Ice Hockey League with the Nottingham Panthers, Oreskovic returned to Canada, signing a one-year contract with the Brampton Beast of the Central Hockey League on September 4, 2014 (the CHL joined the ECHL in October).[9] He was injured early in the 2014–15 season and would retire before the end of the season. He later joined the Beast as an assistant coach before resigning at the end of the season.[10][11]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04Brampton BattalionOHL66077641202216
2004–05Brampton BattalionOHL6116714760004
2005–06Brampton BattalionOHL6539122021100034
2006–07Brampton BattalionOHL3621214113—————
2006–07Owen Sound AttackOHL261786640002
2006–07Toronto MarliesAHL30112—————
2007–08Columbia InfernoECHL1304419—————
2007–08Toronto MarliesAHL54191068701111
2008–09Toronto MarliesAHL6511011103600012
2008–09Toronto Maple LeafsNHL1011221—————
2009–10Toronto MarliesAHL74279142—————
2010–11Hershey BearsAHL140002210000
2011–12South Carolina StingraysECHL56156110902211
2011–12Hershey BearsAHL60119—————
2012–13Toledo WalleyeECHL6811314121600014
2013–14Toledo WalleyeECHL1000015—————
2013–14Nottingham PanthersEIHL240332720004
2014–15Brampton BeastECHL1401126—————
NHL totals 1011221 —————

Personal

Oreskovic is a Croatian Canadian.[12][13]

References
  1. Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  2. Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  3. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  4. "Maple Leafs sign Phil Oreskovic". mapleleafs.nhl.com. 2007-06-01. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  5. "Stralman, Oreskovic called up from Marlies". mapleleafs.nhl.com. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  6. "Oreskovic becomes the 400th ECHL player to reach the NHL". ECHL.com. 2009-03-10. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  7. "CuJo finishes win for Leafs after Gerber gets ejected for pushing ref". cbssports.com. 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  8. "Oreskovic returns to Toledo blueline". ECHL. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  9. "Beast sign Phil Oreskovic and Stephon Thorne". Brampton Beast. 2014-09-14. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  10. "Beast Hire Former Maple Leaf Oreskovic as Assistant". Brampton Beast. 4 March 2015.
  11. "Phil Oreskovic Announces Resignation as the Beast's Assistant Coach". Brampton Beast. 20 April 2015.
  12. Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  13. Eliteprospects
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