Jan Mertzig

Jan Mertzig
Date of birth	18th July 1970
place of birth	Huddinge , Sweden
size	194 cm
Weight	95 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1998 , 9th lap, 235th position New York Rangers
Career stations
1989-1995	Huddinge IK
1995-1998	Luleå HF
1998-1999	New York Rangers
1999-2002	EC KAC
2002-2003	Linköpings HC

Jan Mertzig (born July 18, 1970 in Huddinge ) is a former Swedish ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League from 1989 to 2003 .

Career

Jan Mertzig began his career as an ice hockey player in his hometown at Huddinge IK , for whose professional team he was active from 1989 to 1995 in Division 1, which was still second at the time. He then got a contract with Luleå HF from the Elitserien . With this he was Swedish champion straight away , with the defender scoring eleven goals and providing twelve templates in a total of 51 games. For this reason, he was named Rookie of the Year . In the 1996/97 season he failed with his team in the playoff final at Färjestad BK .

After Mertzig had been selected in the NHL Entry Draft 1998 in the ninth round as a total of 235 players by the New York Rangers , he left the Luleå HF after three seasons. In the 1998/99 season , the Swede made two templates in 23 games for the Rangers in the National Hockey League , but spent most of the time in their farm teams , the Hartford Wolf Pack from the American Hockey League and the Utah Grizzlies from the International Hockey League . After only one year, the left-handed player returned to Europe, where he was signed by the EC KAC . With the Austrians he won the national championship in 2000 and 2001 , as well as the Interliga in 2000.

In the 2002/03 season Mertzig ran again in his Swedish homeland for Linköpings HC in the Elitserien. He then ended his career at the age of 33.

International

For Sweden Mertzig took part in the 1998 World Cup, where he and his team became world champions.

Achievements and Awards

• 1996 Swedish champion with the Luleå HF
• 1996 Rookie of the Year of the Elitserien
• 1997 Swedish runner-up with the Luleå HF
• 1998 gold medal at the world championship
• 2000 Austrian champion with the EC KAC
• 2000 Interliga win with the EC KAC
• 2001 Austrian champion with the EC KAC

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	1	23	0	2	2	8th
Playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-

Web links

• Jan Mertzig at hockeydb.com (English)
• Jan Mertzig at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Jan Mertzig at eurohockey.com