Aleš Kotalík

Aleš Kotalík (born 23 December 1978) is a Czech former professional ice hockey right winger who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Calgary Flames.

Playing career Kotalík was drafted 164th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1998 NHL entry draft. In the 2005–06 NHL season, he had a career high in 25 goals, 37 assists and 62 points. The recent 2006–07 NHL season he was 5 for 7 in shootouts and second in the NHL with four shootout deciding goals. He was out for 16 games because of an injured right knee. In the Calgary Flames All-Star games, he showed his ability to strike hard with a slap shot speed of 105.3 being the second hardest shooter in the NHL.

On 4 March 2009, Kotalík was traded by the Sabres to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Kotalík finished the season in Edmonton before being signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers on 9 July 2009 to a three-year, $9 million contract. Due to his lack of goal scoring, which he was expected to bring and being a healthy scratch for numerous games, he was traded on 1 February 2010 to the Calgary Flames along with Chris Higgins in exchange for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.

Placed on waivers in the off-season by the Calgary Flames, Kotalík cleared waivers on 29 June 2010. At the time, he had two years and $6 million remaining on his contract. On 27 January 2011, he was placed back on waivers by the Flames and subsequently assigned to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. On 25 June, along with Robyn Regehr and a second round 2012 draft pick, Kotalík was traded back to the Sabres for Paul Byron and Chris Butler.

On 24 September 2011, Kotalík was placed on waivers by the Buffalo Sabres in a salary cap move. After initially reporting to the Rochester Americans, Kotalík instead returned to his hometown in the Czech Republic to play for HC Mountfield České Budějovice.

International play

Kotalík played his first game for the national team in 2000, and has played 21 times for the Czech national team including the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2008 and 2009 World Championships.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1995–96 HC České Budějovice CZE Jr 28 6 7 13 — — — — — — 1996–97 HC České Budějovice CZE Jr 36 15 16 31 24 — — — — — 1997–98 HC České Budějovice ELH 45 9 6 15 14 — — — — — 1998–99 HC České Budějovice ELH 39 7 13 20 16 3 0 0 0 0 1999–00 HC České Budějovice ELH 43 7 12 19 34 3 0 1 1 6 1999–00 SHC Vajgar Jindřichův Hradec CZE II 2 2 2 4 2 — — — — — 2000–01 HC České Budějovice ELH 52 19 29 48 54 — — — — — 2001–02 Rochester Americans AHL 68 18 25 43 55 1 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 13 1 3 4 2 — — — — — 2002–03 Rochester Americans AHL 8 0 2 2 4 — — — — — 2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 68 21 14 35 30 — — — — — 2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 62 15 11 26 41 — — — — — 2004–05 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 25 8 8 16 46 12 2 5 7 12 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 82 25 37 62 62 18 4 7 11 8 2006–07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 66 16 22 38 62 16 2 2 4 8 2007–08 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 23 20 43 58 — — — — — 2008–09 Buffalo Sabres NHL 56 13 19 32 28 — — — — — 2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 19 7 4 11 6 — — — — — 2009–10 New York Rangers NHL 45 8 14 22 38 — — — — — 2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 26 3 2 5 29 — — — — — 2010–11 Calgary Flames NHL 26 4 2 6 8 — — — — — 2010–11 Abbotsford Heat AHL 25 6 12 18 10 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Mountfield ELH 30 8 16 24 20 5 1 3 4 0 2012–13 ČEZ Motor České Budějovice ELH 51 14 22 36 70 5 0 1 1 16 2013–14 ČEZ Motor České Budějovice CZE II 51 16 15 31 38 — — — — — NHL totals 542 136 148 284 348 34 6 9 15 16 ELH totals 285 72 106 178 254 28 3 10 13 34

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1998 Czech Republic WJC 7 3 1 4 0 2006 Czech Republic OG 4 0 0 0 0 2008 Czech Republic WC 7 5 2 7 0 2009 Czech Republic WC 7 2 1 3 4 Senior totals 18 7 3 10 4