Alexander Salák

Alexander Salák (born January 5, 1987) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played two games in the National Hockey League with the Florida Panthers in 2009. Internationally Salák has played for the Czech national team at three World Championships, and at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

Czech Republic Alexander Salák started his career in IHC Pisek and moved to HC České Budějovice organization during the 2001/02 season.

Salák played from 2002 to 2006 for Budějovice, playing in the U18 and U20 Championship leagues. During the 2005/06 season, he played 2 games for HC Strakonice, a Czech Second National League-team. In the following season, Salák spent the entire season playing for HC Tábor at the same level.

Finland Alexander Salák was contracted to Finland in 2006, when he played for Mestis team Jokipojat on the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland. For the next season he was contracted to SM-liiga side TPS. In TPS, Salák is coached by TPS Goaltending Coach, Urpo Ylönen who has coached top Finnish goalies like Miikka Kiprusoff, Fredrik Norrena and Antero Niittymäki in the past.

National Hockey League On May 29, 2009, Alexander Salák was signed by the Florida Panthers of the NHL. He was assigned to their AHL farm team, the Rochester Americans after training camp. He was recalled by the Panthers and made his NHL debut on October 9, 2009 in a relief role in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. On August 13, 2010, Alexander Salák was loaned to Färjestad BK of the Swedish Elite League for the 2010-11 season.

On February 9, 2011, Salák was traded by the Panthers to the Chicago Blackhawks, along with forward Michael Frolík for Jack Skille, Hugh Jessiman, and David Pacan. On May 31, 2011, Salák was signed by the Blackhawks to a two-year contract. On June 18, 2012, the Blackhawks released Salák from his contract.

Kontinental Hockey League He made his Kontinental Hockey League debut playing with SKA Saint Petersburg during the 2013–14 KHL season.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2001–02 ICH Písek U18 CZE-U18 20 — — — — — — — 5.50 .880 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 HC České Budějovice U18 CZE-U18 8 — — — — — — — 6.32 .810 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 HC České Budějovice U18 CZE-U18 45 — — — — — — — 2.62 .927 8 — — — — — 2.33 .932 2003–04 HC České Budějovice U18 CZE-U18 51 — — — — — — — 2.50 .926 2 — — — — — 2.50 .917 2004–05 HC České Budějovice U20 CZE-U20 41 — — — — — — — 2.34 .922 2 — — — — — 3.00 .914 2005–06 HC České Budějovice U20 CZE-U20 30 — — — — — — — 1.70 .942 1 — — — — — 3.00 .813 2005–06 HC Strakonice CZE-3 2 — — — — — — — 4.00 — — — — — — — — — 2005–06 HC Tábor CZE-3 1 — — — — — — — 1.00 — — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Jokipojat Mestis 35 — — — — — — — 2.81 .918 3 — — — — — 2.39 .931 2007–08 TPS SM-l 31 — — — — 1757 76 1 2.59 .915 1 — — — — — 4.43 .872 2008–09 TPS SM-l 52 20 20 — 9 2981 119 4 2.40 .923 8 4 4 489 16 0 1.96 .951 2009–10 Florida Panthers NHL 2 0 1 — 0 67 6 0 5.41 .850 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Rochester Americans AHL 48 29 14 — 0 2557 123 1 2.89 .910 2 0 1 69 5 0 4.37 .884 2010–11 Färjestad BK SEL 32 19 12 — 0 1857 61 7 1.97 .926 9 8 1 562 22 0 2.35 .904 2011–12 Rockford IceHogs AHL 21 6 10 — 0 1048 47 0 2.69 .903 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Färjestad BK SEL 41 25 15 — 0 2453 66 7 1.61 .939 10 5 5 616 24 1 2.34 .922 2013–14 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 34 18 12 — 0 2049 67 3 1.96 .929 10 6 4 622 20 2 1.93 .940 2014–15 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 19 14 4 — 0 1105 44 1 2.39 .914 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 21 14 5 — 0 1260 34 2 1.62 .945 14 8 5 803 21 1 1.57 .943 2015–16 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 52 26 15 — 0 3023 95 6 1.89 .938 9 5 4 524 16 2 1.83 .942 2016–17 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 15 5 4 — 0 795 26 2 1.96 .939 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 37 14 17 — 1 1924 81 1 2.53 .917 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 20 9 6 — 3 1099 34 4 1.86 .922 6 2 3 248 9 1 2.18 .912 2019–20 Dinamo Riga KHL 32 8 19 — 3 1836 77 2 2.52 .912 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Sparta Praha ELH 11 8 2 — 0 626 17 1 1.63 .940 6 4 2 — — 2 1.83 .938 2021–22 Sparta Praha ELH 23 14 9 — 0 1327 58 1 2.62 .899 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Djurgårdens IF SHL 8 4 4 — 0 478 19 1 2.38 .929 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 2 0 1 — 0 67 6 0 5.41 .850 — — — — — — — — KHL totals 230 108 82 — 14 — — 21 2.10 .928 39 21 16 2197 66 6 1.80 .928

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2005 Czech Republic U18 1 0 0 0 48 1 0 1.24 .929 2013 Czech Republic WC 3 1 2 0 297 7 0 1.42 .938 2014 Czech Republic OG 2 0 0 0 70 2 0 1.72 .929 2014 Czech Republic WC 10 5 4 0 576 22 2 2.29 .897 2015 Czech Republic WC 2 0 1 0 88 8 0 5.44 .742 Junior totals 1 0 0 0 48 1 0 1.24 .929 Senior totals 17 6 7 0 1031 39 2 2.27 .899