Ján Lašák

Ján Lašák (born April 10, 1979) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey goaltender.

Lašák was drafted by the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 2nd round (65th overall) of the 1999 NHL entry draft and spent the following four seasons in North America before returning to Europe in 2003.

Playing career After Lašák was drafted by the Predators, he moved to North America and spent his first professional season with the Hampton Roads Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He had a stellar debut, posting a 36-17-4 record, and was named ECHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, as well as to the All-Rookie and First All-Star teams. He spent the majority of the following three seasons with Nashville's top minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League. He posted a 53-49-12 record with Milwaukee, earning some limited action with the Predators. However, he was unable to earn a permanent spot with the Predators, appearing in only 6 games for the team, and posting an 0–4 record.

Due to his inability to stick with the Predators, Lašák decided to return to Europe and spent the 2003–04 season with SKA St. Petersburg of the Russian Super League. The following year Lašák moved to the Czech Republic to play with HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga, the team with which he would spend the next five seasons. He enjoyed much success with Pardubice, posting a 116-85-5 record and leading them to the league championship in 2004–05.

Following his successful stint in the Czech Extraliga, Lašák spent the 2009-10 season with Atlant Mytishchi of the Kontinental Hockey League. He posted an 11-6-4 record as the team bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. He also spent part of the season on loan to HC Košice of the Slovak Extraliga, appearing in 17 games for the club.

Lašák signed a one-year contract with Jokerit of the Finnish SM-liiga for the 2010–11 season. He posted a 14–11 record along with a .923 save percentage during the regular season, and despite his efforts including a .940 save percentage and 1.94 goals against average, Jokerit lost its quarterfinal series to HIFK.

In 2011 Lašák returned to the KHL and signed for Amur Khabarovsk.

International play Lašák has been a longtime mainstay of the Slovak national team. He has appeared in nine IIHF World Championships, two Winter Olympic Games, and one World Cup of Hockey for Slovakia. He backstopped Slovakia to its first and to date only gold medal at the 2002 IIHF World Championship in Sweden, while also helping his country capture silver at the 2000 IIHF World Championship and bronze at the 2003 IIHF World Championship.

Personal life From 2002 to 2015, Lašák was married to a volleyball player. They had two children. In 2024, Lašák married designer Romana Lašáková, with whom he has another two children.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1998–99 Zvolen SVK 8 — — — 387 29 0 4.50 — — — — — — — — — 1999-00 Hampton Roads Admirals ECHL 59 36 17 4 3409 145 0 2.55 .917 10 5 5 610 28 1 2.75 .918 2000–01 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 43 23 17 2 2439 106 1 2.61 .913 3 0 1 60 5 0 4.97 .844 2001-02 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 34 12 18 3 1981 79 2 2.39 .916 — — — — — — — — 2001-02 Nashville Predators NHL 3 0 3 0 177 13 0 4.41 .875 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 40 18 14 7 2378 113 1 2.85 .901 6 2 4 366 19 0 3.12 .878 2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 3 0 1 0 90 5 0 3.33 .872 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 SKA St. Petersburg RSL 34 — — — 2000 80 0 2.40 .909 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 HC Pardubice CZE 46 31 14 1 2769 108 4 2.34 .930 16 — — 977 29 3 1.78 .950 2005–06 HC Pardubice CZE 33 16 13 4 1936 82 3 2.54 .927 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 HC Pardubice CZE 45 25 20 0 2625 113 6 2.58 .930 18 10 8 1067 39 3 2.19 .932 2007–08 HC Pardubice CZE 45 22 23 0 2617 118 4 2.71 .925 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 HC Pardubice CZE 37 22 15 0 2165 99 1 2.74 .919 7 3 4 455 15 1 1.98 .931 2009-10 Atlant Mytishchi KHL 21 11 6 4 1249 52 2 2.50 .908 4 1 2 238 10 0 2.52 .921 2009-10 HC Košice SVK 17 — — — 977 47 1 2.89 .901 — — — — — — — — 2010-11 Jokerit SM-I 33 14 11 — 1987 72 2 2.17 .923 7 3 4 432 14 1 1.94 .940 NHL totals 6 0 4 0 267 18 0 4.04 .874 — — — — — — — — AHL totals 74 30 32 10 4359 192 3 2.64 .908 6 2 4 366 19 0 3.11 .878 CZE totals 212 116 85 5 12470 538 18 2.59 .924 41 — — 2499 83 7 1.99 .939

Awards and honors Award Year Czech Champion 2005, 2016