Ondřej Pavelec

Ondřej Pavelec (; born 31 August 1987) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender. Drafted in the second round, 41st overall, by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2005, he stayed with the team as they became the Winnipeg Jets in 2011, and played his final season with the New York Rangers. During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Pavelec played for Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga (ELH) and Pelicans of the Finnish SM-liiga.

Playing career

Junior

Pavelec was drafted in the first round of the 2005 CHL Import Draft by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He was also drafted by the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers in the second round, 41st overall, at the 2005 NHL entry draft. He played two seasons with the Screaming Eagles and helped them to a semi-final finish in the 2006–07 season.

Pavelec was a First Team All-Star in each of his two seasons with Cape Breton, and won the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy for best goals against average (GAA) in both years, making him only the fourth player to repeat as Jacques Plante Trophy winner and the first in 20 years to do so (Robert Desjardins was the last). As a rookie, took home the Raymond Lagacé Trophy and RDS Trophy, awarded to top defensive rookie and rookie of the year, respectively. His numbers were remarkably consistent over the two seasons, as he recorded GAAs of 2.51 in 2005–06 and 2.52 in 2006–07, with save percentages of .929 and .908, respectively.

Professional Pavelec signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007, joining their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. On 18 May 2007, Pavelec shut-out the Toronto Marlies 5–0 in the AHL's Western Conference Finals. Pavelec helped Wolves win the Calder Cup in the 2007–08 season.

After starting nine games for Chicago in the 2008–09 season, Pavelec was recalled to the NHL after Thrashers starter Kari Lehtonen suffered an injury. Pavelec played his first NHL game on 20 October 2007, then made his first NHL start, and recorded his first NHL win, against the Tampa Bay Lightning on 3 November 2007. He was playing with Atlanta since being called up on 1 November 2008, until he was reassigned to the Wolves on 19 December 2008. He later returned to the Thrashers.

On 8 October 2010, Pavelec collapsed and lost consciousness during a game against the Washington Capitals while there was a break in play at 2:25 into the first period. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. He regained consciousness while at the hospital and was in stable condition, and apparently was concerned about the score in the game, which the Thrashers won 4–2. It was determined after testing by doctors that the cause of his collapse was neurocardiogenic syncope, a type of fainting spell, and that he received a concussion and lost consciousness after his head hit the ice. He was released from the hospital on 11 October 2010. He would return to the ice in a 3-4 shootout loss to the St Louis Blues on 30 October 2010.

Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Pavelec returned to his native Czech Republic, where he was expected to join HC Oceláři Třinec. However, he signed with Bílí Tygři Liberec instead, where he joined fellow NHLer Ladislav Šmíd. During the 2014–15 season, Pavelec set a Winnipeg Jets franchise record by recording three shutouts in a row, going 187:05 without allowing a goal. He was instrumental in helping the team qualify for their first ever Stanley Cup playoffs since the franchise relocated from Atlanta to Winnipeg in 2011.

Pavelec was placed on waivers by the Jets on 10 October 2016 and was subsequently sent down to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. The Jets recalled Pavelec on 17 January 2017, and he played his first game of the 2016–17 season on 18 January 2017. Shortly following his debut, Pavelec set a franchise record for most saves in a period after he made 25 saves in the second period to lead the team to a 5–3 win over the St. Louis Blues.

On 1 July 2017, having left the Thrashers/Jets as a free agent after ten professional seasons with the franchise, Pavelec signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the New York Rangers.

On 20 September 2018, Pavelec announced his retirement after an 11-year career.

International play

Pavelec led the Czech Republic under-17 team to a second-place finish in the 2004 Junior World Cup, and the under-18 squad to a fourth-place finish at the U-18 World Junior Cup. He was also the starting goalie for the Czech Republic junior team at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops, British Columbia.

Pavelec then played for the senior Czech team at the 2010 World Championships, helping capture a gold medal. He also competed in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi, respectively. In between the two Olympic tournaments, he helped lead the Czechs to a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2002–03 HC Vagnerplast Kladno CZE U18 7 — — — — — — 2.21 .911 2 — — — — — 2.77 .921 2003–04 HC Rabat Kladno CZE U18 38 — — — 2079 77 3 2.22 .922 2 — — — — — 6.27 .696 2004–05 HC Rabat Kladno CZE U20 39 — — — 2218 85 7 2.30 .930 10 — — — — — 2.45 .920 2004–05 HK Lev Slaný CZE.3 1 — — — 60 4 0 4.00 — — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 47 28 17 2 2578 108 3 2.51 .929 9 4 5 506 19 0 2.25 .926 2006–07 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 43 28 11 0 2335 98 1 2.52 .908 16 11 5 970 37 2 2.29 .920 2007–08 Chicago Wolves AHL 52 33 16 3 3033 140 2 2.77 .911 24 16 8 1438 56 2 2.34 .921 2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 7 3 3 0 347 18 0 3.11 .905 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Chicago Wolves AHL 40 18 20 2 2417 104 3 2.58 .914 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 12 3 7 0 599 36 0 3.61 .880 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 42 14 18 7 2317 127 2 3.29 .906 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 58 21 23 9 3225 147 4 2.73 .914 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 1 0 1 0 58 3 0 3.10 .864 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL 69 29 28 9 3932 191 4 2.91 .906 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 14 4 10 0 772 45 0 3.50 .896 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Lahti Pelicans SM-l 6 — — — — — — 2.68 .912 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Winnipeg Jets NHL 44 21 20 3 2553 119 0 2.80 .905 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Winnipeg Jets NHL 57 22 26 7 3248 163 1 3.01 .901 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Winnipeg Jets NHL 50 22 16 8 2838 108 5 2.28 .920 4 0 4 241 15 0 3.73 .891 2015–16 Winnipeg Jets NHL 33 13 13 4 1900 88 1 2.78 .904 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Manitoba Moose AHL 18 8 7 2 1059 49 0 2.78 .917 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Winnipeg Jets NHL 8 4 4 0 442 26 0 3.55 .888 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 New York Rangers NHL 19 4 9 1 904 46 1 3.05 .910 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 398 156 167 48 22,303 1,069 18 2.88 .907 4 0 4 241 15 0 3.73 .891

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2005 Czech Republic WJC18 7 4 3 0 376 13 1 2.07 .932 2007 Czech Republic WJC 5 2 3 0 275 15 0 3.28 .890 2010 Czech Republic WC 1 0 1 0 59 3 0 3.05 .800 2011 Czech Republic WC 8 7 1 0 479 15 2 1.88 .939 2013 Czech Republic WC 5 3 2 0 297 7 0 1.42 .938 2014 Czech Republic OG 4 2 2 0 209 10 0 2.87 .889 2015 Czech Republic WC 9 6 3 0 517 17 1 1.97 .912 Senior totals 27 18 9 0 1561 52 3 2.00 .920

Awards and achievements Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy (QMJHL's lowest GAA) – 2006, 2007 Raymond Lagacé Trophy (QMJHL's defensive rookie of the year) – 2006 RDS Cup (QMJHL's rookie of the year) – 2006 QMJHL First All-Star Team – 2006, 2007 QMJHL All-Rookie Team – 2006 AHL Calder Cup – 2007–2008 Chicago Wolves