Jozef Balej

Jozef Balej (born February 22, 1982) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He was selected in the third round, 78th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2000 NHL entry draft. Balej also played for the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career As a youth, Balej played in the 1995 and 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a team from Bratislava.

Balej left his native Slovakia in 1998 to develop his game in North America, and spent a season in the USHL before moving to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. After a solid first season in Portland in which he recorded 22 goals, Balej was selected 78th overall in the 2000 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He would spend two more seasons in Portland, turning in a dominant performance in 2001–02 with 51 goals in 65 games.

Signed by Montreal, Balej turned pro in 2002 and spent the 2002–03 season in the AHL, where he struggled, recording just 5 goals and 20 points in 56 games. While he possessed dynamic speed and a heavy shot, the slightly built Balej struggled with the bigger, stronger pro game and took time to adjust. However, he showed marked improvement in 2003–04, scoring 25 goals and 58 points in 55 games, and earned a four-game callup to Montreal.

At the trade deadline near the end of the 03–04 season, Balej was traded to the New York Rangers as the centerpiece of a deal for star winger Alexei Kovalev. With the Rangers out of the playoff picture, he was given an extended look in New York, appearing in 13 games and scoring his first NHL goal and adding 4 assists for 5 points. At the conclusion of the season, he was reassigned to the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL for the playoffs where he scored 9 goals and 16 points in 16 games. He continued to play for Hartford during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, but had a disappointing year with 20 goals and 42 points in 69 games.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Balej was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks with a 6th round draft pick in 2008 for Fedor Fedorov. He played well for the AHL Manitoba Moose to start the season, and earned a one-game callup to the Canucks, in which he played well and recorded an assist. However, shortly after his return to Manitoba he suffered a gruesome injury when he crashed into the boards and harpooned himself in the midsection with his stick. The blow crushed his kidney and caused severe internal bleeding, and was initially feared to be career-threatening. However, he battled back to return for the end of the season and the playoffs.

Balej was given a qualifying offer by the Canucks to return for the 2006–07 season, but opted instead to sign in Switzerland for HC Fribourg-Gottéron, where he recorded 13 goals and 30 points in 37 games. Balej re-signed with the Canucks for 2007–08, but suffered through an injury-plagued year in the minors in which he appeared in only 16 games.

In 2008, Balej signed with HC Oceláři Třinec of the Czech league. Unfortunately, injuries have continued to plague his career, as he has been limited to only 52 appearances in two years with Oceláři Třinec.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1996–97 Dukla Trenčín SVK U18 51 31 25 56 36 — — — — — 1997–98 Dukla Trenčín SVK U18 52 57 40 97 60 — — — — — 1998–99 Thunder Bay Flyers USHL 38 8 7 15 9 — — — — — 1998–99 Rochester Mustangs USHL 17 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1999–2000 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 65 22 23 45 33 — — — — — 2000–01 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 46 32 21 53 18 16 6 9 15 6 2001–02 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 65 51 41 92 52 7 0 2 2 6 2002–03 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 56 5 15 20 29 3 1 0 1 2 2003–04 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 55 25 33 58 32 — — — — — 2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2003–04 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 5 1 3 4 21 16 9 7 16 10 2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 13 1 4 5 4 — — — — — 2004–05 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 69 20 22 42 46 6 0 0 0 4 2005–06 Vancouver Canucks NHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Manitoba Moose AHL 39 14 15 29 20 4 1 0 1 4 2006–07 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NLA 37 13 17 30 44 — — — — — 2007–08 Manitoba Moose AHL 16 4 9 13 10 — — — — — 2008–09 HC Oceláři Třinec ELH 39 17 10 27 40 5 3 0 3 2 2009–10 HC Oceláři Třinec ELH 13 4 5 9 6 5 2 1 3 6 2010–11 HC Kometa Brno ELH 27 10 4 14 12 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Slovan Bratislava SVK 20 5 6 11 8 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Kometa Brno ELH 25 2 3 5 12 17 3 1 4 6 2012–13 HC Škoda Plzeň ELH 41 15 8 23 16 7 3 2 5 4 2013–14 Piráti Chomutov ELH 37 8 6 14 16 — — — — — 2014–15 HC Škoda Plzeň ELH 47 6 6 12 28 2 0 1 1 0 2015–16 ŠHK 37 Piešťany SVK 18 9 6 15 26 — — — — — 2015–16 HC Red Ice SUI.2 28 13 16 29 33 8 4 5 9 6 2016–17 HC Red Ice SUI.2 43 22 22 44 26 5 3 4 7 6 2017–18 KHL Medveščak Zagreb AUT 30 9 8 17 12 6 0 2 2 6 2018–19 MsHK DOXXbet Žilina SVK 31 3 8 11 18 — — — — — 2018–19 EHC Freiburg GER.2 8 5 2 7 4 — — — — — 2019–20 EHC Freiburg GER.2 4 2 0 2 4 — — — — — AHL totals 240 69 97 166 158 29 11 7 18 20 NHL totals 18 1 5 6 4 — — — — — ELH totals 229 62 42 104 130 51 16 11 27 24

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2000 Slovakia WJC18 5th 6 0 5 5 4 2001 Slovakia WJC 8th 7 3 3 6 4 Junior totals 13 3 8 11 8

Awards and honors Award Year WHL West First All-Star Team 2002 CHL Second All-Star Team 2002 AHL All-Star Game 2004