Thomas Vanek
| Thomas Vanek | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
January 19, 1984 Baden bei Wien, Austria | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | LW | ||
| Shoots | R | ||
| NHL draft |
5th overall, 2003 Buffalo Sabres | ||
| Playing career | 2004–present | ||
Thomas Vanek (born on 19 January 1984 in Baden bei Wien, Austria) is an Austrian ice hockey player. He was born to parents Jarmila and Zdenek Vanek, who moved 1982 from Czechoslovakia to Austria. He is 6 ft 2 in and weighs 208 lbs. Vanek was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 5th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, making him the highest draft pick in Austrian history. Vanek's main strength is his scoring ability.
While playing for the Sioux Falls Stampede Thomas attended O'Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After playing junior hockey for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL, Vanek became a standout player for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, leading the team in goals (31), assists (31) and points (62) in the 2002-03 season. He won the 2003 NCAA National Championship and was named MVP of the Frozen Four, and he was also named Minnesota’s team MVP for 2003, becoming the first freshman to receive the honor. He scored the most points by a Golden Gopher freshman in 2003 since Aaron Broten when he scored 72 in 1979-80. He was the first freshman to lead the team in scoring since Mike Antonovich in 1969-70. He netted 31 goals in his freshman season to lead the nation in goal scoring. He was also the 2003 WCHA Rookie of the Year, the third Golden Gopher to win the award.
Vanek was a member of Team Austria in the 2004 IIHF World Championships, where he collected seven points in six games (2 goals and 5 assists). Vanek led the Golden Gophers in goals (26) and points (51) for the second-straight season and finished fifth in points among Division I leaders with 51. Vanek was the Twin Cities Best College Athlete for 2004.
Vanek spent 2004-05 with the Sabres' AHL affiliate Rochester Americans, recording 68 points in 74 games and helped Rochester to the best record in the AHL. Vanek finished second on the team in points, 11 points behind Chris Taylor, but led the team in goals with 42 and in power play goals with 25. He finished second among rookies in points and led all rookies in goals scored, the latter of which was second in the league among all players.
Vanek signed a three-year deal with Buffalo on September 3 2004 and began playing for the main Sabres roster in the 2005-06 NHL season. He had a quite promising rookie season with 25 goals and 48 points and started in 81 games for the Sabres. In the playoffs he did not play as often as he wanted, due to inconsistent performances. He played 10 games and scored 2 goals.
Vanek and his team started the 2006-07 NHL season with a 10 game winning streak, which equaled the starting record of the 93/94 Toronto Maple Leafs. On December 12th 2006 in a game against Montreal he became just the second NHL player after Brian Rolston to score with a slap shot in the shootout.[citation needed] Vanek concluded the year scoring his 43rd goal of the season as the first Sabre to score 40 goals since Miroslav Satan in 1998-99. He led the NHL with a +47 plus/minus rating, winning the 2007 NHL Plus/Minus Award. In addition, he led the league in goals scored at home with 30.
Career Statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1999-00 | Sioux Falls Stampede | USHL | 35 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2000-01 | Sioux Falls Stampede | USHL | 20 | 19 | 10 | 29 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 2001-02 | Sioux Falls Stampede | USHL | 53 | 46 | 45 | 91 | 54 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 2002-03 | U. of Minnesota | NCAA | 45 | 31 | 31 | 62 | 60 | |||||||
| 2003-04 | U. of Minnesota | NCAA | 38 | 26 | 25 | 51 | 72 | |||||||
| 2004-05 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 74 | 42 | 26 | 68 | 62 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 2005-06 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 81 | 25 | 23 | 48 | 72 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2006-07 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 82 | 43 | 41 | 84 | 40 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||