Josef Melichar

Josef Melichar
Date of birth	20th January 1979
place of birth	České Budějovice , Czechoslovakia
size	188 cm
Weight	101 kg
position	defender
number	# 22
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1997 , 3rd lap, 71st position Pittsburgh Penguins
Career stations
until 1997	HC České Budějovice
1997-1999	Tri-City Americans
1999-2001	Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
2000-2007	Pittsburgh Penguins
2004-2005	HC Sparta Prague
2007-2008	Linköpings HC
2008-2009	Carolina Hurricanes
2009	Tampa Bay Lightning
2009-2010	HC České Budějovice
2010-2011	Linköpings HC

Josef Melichar (born January 20, 1979 in České Budějovice , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League during his career .

Career

Josef Melichar began his career in the offspring of the Czech first division club HC České Budějovice before he was selected as the 71st player by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1997 NHL Entry Draft in the third round . He then played two junior seasons with the Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League and was nominated in 1998 for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy , which is awarded to the best defender in the league.

The Czech spent his first professional season in the 1999/2000 game year with the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League . As the only player on the team, he played in all 80 games of the season. In October 2000 he made his NHL debut as a 21-year-old and made a total of 18 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2000/01 season . Mostly he was used but at the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and reached the AHL playoffs with the team, but the final of the Calder Cup was lost.

Because of a serious shoulder injury at the end of the 2001/02 season , he was only able to play eight games in the following season after persistent problems. After further shoulder injuries, he traveled to the training camp with the rest of the team in summer 2003 and injured himself again in the same place. Still, the injury wasn't that severe, allowing him to play in all 82 games of the 2003/04 season . This season he scored his first goal in his 137th NHL game.

During the failure of the 2004/05 NHL season , Melichar played for HC Sparta Prague in his Czech homeland and returned to the Penguins in the summer of 2005. On March 11, 2006, he was appointed assistant captain for the Penguins. In the 2007/08 season Melichar was under contract with the Swedish first division club Linköpings HC , but spent the beginning of the season at his home club in České Budějovice, as he received a tax-reduced half-year contract in Sweden. With the LHC he became Swedish runner-up in 2008.

On July 1, 2008 Melichar was committed by the Carolina Hurricanes , who gave him on February 7, 2009 together with Wade Brookbank and a four-round vote for the NHL Entry Draft 2009 in exchange for the Finn Jussi Jokinen to the Tampa Bay Lightning .

In the summer of 2009 Melichar did not get a new NHL contract and therefore returned to his home club, for which he played in the extra league. In July 2010 he received a trial contract with HC Lev Poprad from the Continental Hockey League . Since this did not take up the game, Melichar was initially without a club. On August 10, 2010 he got a one-year contract with Linköpings HC, but was loaned to HC České Budějovice until mid-October 2010. For Linköping he played 48 games in the Elitserien before he was signed by HC Pardubice in July 2011 . In mid-August of the same year, he ended his career for family reasons.

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	7th	349	7th	42	49	300
Playoffs	1	5	0	0	0	2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ nhl.com, Hurricanes acquire Jussi Jokinen from Tampa Bay

Web links

• Josef Melichar at hockeydb.com (English)
• Josef Melichar at eurohockey.com
• Josef Melichar at legendsofhockey.net (English)