Martin Prusek

Martin Prusek (born December 11, 1975) is a Czech ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his playing career, Prusek appeared in 57 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Prusek currently serves as the goaltending coach for HC Vítkovice Steel of the Czech Extraliga.

Playing career Martin Prusek started his professional ice hockey career in 1994 when he joined HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraliga. After playing there for five seasons, Prusek was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the sixth round of the 1999 NHL entry draft with the 164th overall pick. He signed a multi-year contract with Ottawa in 2001 and made his North American debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League during the 2001–02 season. He also made his NHL debut that same season, appearing in one game with the Senators.

Prusek appeared in 47 games with the Senators over the following two seasons, compiling a record of 28–8–4. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he returned to the Czech Republic to play for Vitkovice and HC JME Znojemští Orli. He came back to North America for the 2005–06 season, joining the Columbus Blue Jackets. After spending most of the 2005–06 season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch, Prusek left North America and joined SKA Saint Petersburg in the Russian Super League. During 2007–08, he rejoined HC Vitkovice in the Czech Extraliga. In 2008-09 Prusek played in Kontinental Hockey League and after a brief contract with HC Spartak Moscow, he joined Dinamo Riga for 2 seasons. After the 2009-10 season, Prusek once again rejoined HC Vítkovice Steel. Although he suffered from carditis and played just in 2 Extraliga games during all the 2010-11 season, he reached a silver medal.

In summer 2011, he stepped into HC Vítkovice Steel pre-season players' camp, but on July 26 he announced his retirement decision and also he accepted the club's offer for the position of goaltender coach.

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% 1995–96 HC Vítkovice ELH 40 — — — — 2336 113 1 2.90 .911 4 — — 250 10 1 2.40 .935 1996–97 HC Vítkovice ELH 49 — — — — 2841 109 8 2.30 .921 9 — — 546 19 1 2.09 .935 1997–98 HC Vítkovice ELH 50 — — — — 2901 129 0 2.67 .948 9 — — 529 26 1 2.95 .910 1998–99 HC Vítkovice ELH 37 — — — — 1905 85 0 2.68 .917 4 — — 250 12 0 2.88 .923 1999–00 HC Vítkovice ELH 50 — — — — 2647 132 0 2.99 .911 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 HC Vítkovice ELH 30 — — — — 1679 64 0 2.29 .924 9 — — 460 25 0 3.26 .919 2001–02 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 33 18 8 5 — 1903 58 4 1.83 .930 5 2 3 278 10 0 2.16 .896 2001–02 Ottawa Senators NHL 1 0 1 0 — 62 3 0 2.90 .800 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Ottawa Senators NHL 18 12 2 1 — 935 37 0 2.37 .911 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Binghamton Senators AHL 4 1 2 1 — 243 7 1 1.73 .925 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Ottawa Senators NHL 29 16 6 3 — 1528 54 3 2.12 .917 1 0 0 40 1 0 1.50 .933 2004–05 HC Vítkovice ELH 14 — — — — 672 28 0 2.50 .931 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 HC Znojemsti Orli Znojmo ELH 8 — — — — 453 18 0 2.38 .932 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Syracuse Crunch AHL 23 12 7 — 1 1203 60 2 2.99 .911 — — — — — — — — 2005-06 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 9 3 3 — 0 373 20 0 3.22 .879 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 SKA St. Petersburg RSL 22 — — — — 1161 52 3 2.69 — — — — — — — — — 2007–08 HC Vítkovice ELH 43 17 26 — 0 2366 106 3 2.69 .932 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Spartak Moscow KHL 22 8 9 — 4 1280 64 2 3.00 .879 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Dynamo Riga KHL 20 10 6 — 2 1164 33 6 1.70 .941 3 0 3 167 13 0 4.67 .859 2009–10 Dynamo Riga KHL 28 7 15 — 2 1477 77 0 3.13 .903 4 1 3 210 9 0 2.57 .921 2010–11 HC Vítkovice ELH 2 — — — — 106 4 0 2.26 .923 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 57 31 12 4 0 2898 114 3 2.36 .909 1 0 0 40 1 0 1.50 .933

Awards Hap Holmes Memorial Award (lowest GAA in AHL): 2001–02 season (with Mathieu Chouinard and Simon Lajeunesse)

International achievements Martin Prusek's first international team game was the game against Russia on 17 December 1995, in Moscow. Year TotalIce Hockey World ChampionshipsWC 1997 WC 1998 WC 1999 WC 2009 6th place 4x