Chad Kolarik

Chad E. Kolarik (born January 26, 1986) is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently serving as an assistant coach to the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers.

Playing career As a youth, Kolarik played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Philadelphia Flyers minor ice hockey team.

Kolarik was drafted 199th overall in the 2004 NHL entry draft by the Phoenix Coyotes while he was playing for the University of Michigan. After completing his senior year with the Wolverines in the 2007–08 season, Chad signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Coyotes on April 13, 2008. He was then assigned to their affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, for the Calder Cup playoffs.

On March 3, 2010, Kolarik was traded from the Coyotes to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alexandre Picard. He made his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets on April 5, 2010 against the St. Louis Blues. He earned his first NHL point for the Rangers with an assist on a goal by Brandon Prust against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 20, 2011.

There was speculation that Kolarik would make the New York Rangers squad in the 2011–12 season, but he missed the entire year after he tore his ACL in training camp.

On January 24, 2013, Kolarik was traded from the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Benn Ferriero.

After a strong ending of the 2012–13 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Kolarik chose to move overseas, signing a two-year deal with Linköpings HC of the Swedish Hockey League. During the final season of his contract in Sweden, Kolarik sought a release in October, 2014, to sign a contract with Russian club, Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.

On April 30, 2015, he agreed to a one-year contract with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss NLA. Kolarik made 38 NLA appearances for the Kloten squad, scoring 16 goals and assisting on twelve more. He left the team after the 2015–16 season and moved to Germany, signing with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Helping Adler Mannheim claim the DEL championship in the 2018–19 season, Kolarik left as a free agent for neighbouring league, the EBEL, signing a one-year deal with Austrian outfit, EC Red Bull Salzburg, on May 1, 2019. In his lone season in the EBEL, Kolarik posted 43 points in 48 games as the team's second leading scorer. He collected 4 playoff points in 3 games before the season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 2, 2020, Kolarik ended his tenure with Red Bull Salzburg by announcing his retirement from professional hockey after 12 years.

Personal life He married University of Michigan gymnastic Kylee Botterman in August 2011 in Botterman's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Kolarik proposed to Botterman in December 2010 after a three-year, long-distance relationship. Together they have one son, Christian.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2002–03 U.S. NTDP U17 USDP 21 14 10 24 4 — — — — — 2002–03 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 44 16 22 38 43 — — — — — 2003–04 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 10 3 4 7 4 — — — — — 2003–04 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 45 18 20 38 16 — — — — — 2004–05 University of Michigan CCHA 42 18 17 35 53 — — — — — 2005–06 University of Michigan CCHA 41 12 26 38 30 — — — — — 2006–07 University of Michigan CCHA 41 18 27 45 24 — — — — — 2007–08 University of Michigan CCHA 39 30 26 56 24 — — — — — 2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL — — — — — 7 4 2 6 0 2008–09 San Antonio Rampage AHL 76 20 30 50 47 — — — — — 2009–10 San Antonio Rampage AHL 59 17 18 35 41 — — — — — 2009–10 Syracuse Crunch AHL 17 9 6 15 14 — — — — — 2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Springfield Falcons AHL 13 4 6 10 18 — — — — — 2010–11 Hartford Wolf Pack/CT Whale AHL 36 17 14 31 36 3 3 2 5 0 2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 4 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2012–13 Connecticut Whale AHL 41 16 19 35 38 — — — — — 2012–13 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 35 15 18 33 17 15 5 6 11 17 2013–14 Linköpings HC SHL 53 30 18 48 64 14 6 4 10 16 2014–15 Linköpings HC SHL 11 4 3 7 4 — — — — — 2014–15 Avangard Omsk KHL 29 7 9 16 10 12 4 4 8 8 2015–16 Kloten Flyers NLA 36 15 12 27 14 2 1 0 1 0 2016–17 Adler Mannheim DEL 50 25 16 41 38 7 3 6 9 2 2017–18 Adler Mannheim DEL 47 23 23 46 14 10 0 8 8 8 2018–19 Adler Mannheim DEL 46 21 27 48 6 14 3 8 11 8 2019–20 EC Red Bull Salzburg EBEL 48 20 23 43 16 3 1 3 4 0 AHL totals 277 98 111 209 211 25 12 10 22 17 NHL totals 6 0 1 1 2 — — — — — DEL totals 143 69 66 135 58 31 6 22 28 18

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2004 United States WJC18 6 1 3 4 2 2018 United States OG 7th 2 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 6 1 3 4 2 Senior totals 2 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors Award Year College All-CCHA First Team 2008 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 2008 AHL All-Star Game 2013 DEL Champion (Adler Mannheim) 2019