Jozef Balej
 Jozef Balej 
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| Date of birth | February 22, 1982 |
| place of birth | Myjava , Czechoslovakia |
| size | 184 cm |
| Weight | 88 kg |
| position | Right wing |
| Shot hand | Right |
| Draft | |
| NHL Entry Draft |
2000 , 3rd lap, 78th position Canadiens de Montréal |
| Career stations | |
| until 1998 | HC Dukla Trenčín |
| 1998-1999 | Thunder Bay Flyers Rochester Mustangs |
| 1999-2002 | Portland Winter Hawks |
| 2002-2004 | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| 2004-2005 | Hartford Wolf Pack |
| 2005-2006 | Manitoba mosses |
| 2006-2007 | HC Friborg-Gottéron |
| 2007-2008 | Manitoba mosses |
| 2008-2010 | HC Oceláři Třinec |
| 2010–2012 | HC Kometa Brno |
| 2011 | HC Slovan Bratislava |
| 2012-2013 | HC Škoda Plzeň |
| 2013-2014 | Piráti Chomutov |
| 2014-2015 | HC Škoda Plzeň |
| 2015 | ŠHK 37 Piešťany |
| 2015-2017 | HC Red Ice |
| 2017-2018 | KHL Medveščak Zagreb |
| 2018-2019 | MsHK Žilina |
| 2019 | EHC Freiburg |
Jozef Balej (born February 22, 1982 in Myjava , Czechoslovakia ) is a Slovak ice hockey player who was most recently under contract with EHC Freiburg from the DEL2 .
Career
Jozef Balej began his career as an ice hockey player in the youth department of HC Dukla Trenčín , where he was active until 1998. The winger then moved to the North American junior league United States Hockey League , in which he ran up in the 1998/99 season for the Thunder Bay Flyers and Rochester Mustangs. He then played for the Portland Winter Hawks in the Western Hockey League for three years . During this period he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 2000 in the third round as a total of 78th player by the Canadiens de Montréal . For this he made his debut in the National Hockey League in the 2003/04 season , in which he came to four missions for Montréal. The entire remaining time from 2002 to 2004, however, he spent for Montréals farm team Hamilton Bulldogs in the American Hockey League .
On March 2, 2004 Balej was given shortly before the end of the trade deadline together with a second-round vote for the NHL Entry Draft 2004 in exchange for the Russian Alexei Kowaljow to the New York Rangers . By the end of the season he was 13 times for the Rangers in the NHL on the ice and was able to convince especially in the playoffs, which he spent with the AHL farm team of the Rangers, the Hartford Wolf Pack . For the Wolf Pack, he scored nine goals and provided seven assists in 16 playoff games. In Hartford, the Slovak also spent the entire 2004/05 season , as the NHL season was canceled due to a lockout . In exchange for Fyodor Fyodorov , he was transferred to the Vancouver Canucks on October 7, 2005 , in which, however, he could not prevail. In the NHL team Vancouvers he completed only one NHL game, while he spent the entire remaining season with their AHL farm team Manitoba Moose .
For the 2007/08 season , Balej signed a contract with HC Friborg-Gottéron , for which he scored 35 scorer points in a total of 41 games in the Swiss National League A , including 17 goals. He then moved back to North America, where he only played 16 games for his ex-club Manitoba Moose, in which he achieved 13 points scorer. From 2008 to 2010 the former Slovak junior international was on the ice with HC Oceláři Třinec in the Czech extra league . For the 2010/11 season he moved within the league to HC Kometa Brno , with whom he won the league relegation at the end of the season. In May 2011 he was signed by HC Slovan Bratislava from the Slovak Extraliga , but returned to Kometa later in the year. In the following three years he was under contract with two clubs in the Extraliga, the Piráti Chomutov and the HC Škoda Plzeň . He then spent a few weeks at ŠHK 37 Piešťany in the domestic Slovak extra league before he was signed by HC Red Ice from the Swiss National League B in November 2015 .
In August 2017, Balej was signed by KHL Medveščak Zagreb from the Austrian Ice Hockey League (EBEL) . For Zagreb, Balej scored 19 points in a total of 36 EBEL parties. After the 2017/18 season he was initially without a club before he was signed by MsHK Žilina from the Slovakian extra league in September 2018 . In this, Balej acted as team captain.
In February 2019, Balej was signed by EHC Freiburg from the DEL2 and managed to stay with the Wolves . With 15 points in 14 missions, Balej was the EHCF's second best scorer in the DEL2 play-downs. Therefore, a few days after relegation from EHC Freiburg, he received a contract extension for a year. In September 2019, his involvement with EHC Freiburg ended.
International
For Slovakia , Balej took part in the U18 Junior World Championship in 2000 and the U20 Junior World Championship in 2001 . In the men's area, Balej was used several times in preparation games between 2006 and 2008, but was never used in a major tournament.
Achievements and Awards
- 2002 CHL Second All-Star Team
- 2002 WHL First All-Star Team
- 2004 Participation in the AHL All-Star Game
- 2013 Czech champion with HC Škoda Plzeň
Career statistics
( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1 play-downs / relegation )
Club competitions
| Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
| 1996/97 | HC Dukla Trenčín | U18 extra league | 51 | 31 | 25th | 56 | 36 | |||||||
| 1997/98 | HC Dukla Trenčín | U18 extra league | 52 | 57 | 40 | 97 | 60 | |||||||
| 1998/99 | Thunder Bay Flyers | USHL | 38 | 8th | 7th | 15th | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1998/99 | Rochester Mustangs | USHL | 17th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1999/00 | Portland Winter Hawks | WHL | 65 | 22nd | 23 | 45 | 33 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2000/01 | Portland Winter Hawks | WHL | 46 | 32 | 21st | 53 | 18th | 16 | 6th | 9 | 15th | 6th | ||
| 2001/02 | Portland Winter Hawks | WHL | 65 | 51 | 41 | 92 | 52 | 7th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6th | ||
| 2002/03 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 56 | 5 | 15th | 20th | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2002/03 | Canadiens de Montréal | NHL | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2003/04 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 55 | 25th | 33 | 58 | 32 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2003/04 | New York Rangers | NHL | 13 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2003/04 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4th | 21st | 16 | 9 | 7th | 16 | 10 | ||
| 2004/05 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 69 | 20th | 22nd | 42 | 46 | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | ||
| 2005/06 | Manitoba mosses | AHL | 39 | 14th | 15th | 29 | 20th | 4th | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4th | ||
| 2005/06 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006/07 | Friborg-Gottéron | NLA | 37 | 13 | 17th | 30th | 44 | 4 1 | 4th | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2007/08 | Manitoba mosses | AHL | 16 | 4th | 9 | 13 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2008/09 | HC Oceláři Třinec | Extraliga Cz | 39 | 17th | 10 | 27 | 40 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2009/10 | HC Oceláři Třinec | Extraliga Cz | 13 | 4th | 5 | 9 | 6th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6th | ||
| 2010/11 | HC Kometa Brno | Extraliga Cz | 27 | 10 | 4th | 14th | 12 | 10 1 | 4th | 6th | 10 | 6th | ||
| 2011/12 | HC Slovan Bratislava | Extraliga Sk | 20th | 5 | 6th | 11 | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2011/12 | HC Kometa Brno | Extraliga Cz | 25th | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 17th | 3 | 1 | 4th | 6th | ||
| 2012/13 | HC Plzeň 1929 | Extraliga Cz | 41 | 15th | 8th | 23 | 16 | 7th | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4th | ||
| 2013/14 | KLH Chomutov | Extraliga Cz | 37 | 8th | 6th | 14th | 16 | 5 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2013/14 | KLH Chomutov | Relegation | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2014/15 | HC Škoda Plzeň | Extraliga Cz | 47 | 6th | 6th | 12 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2015/16 | ŠHK 37 Piešťany | Extraliga Sk | 18th | 9 | 6th | 15th | 26th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2015/16 | HC Red Ice | NLB | 28 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 33 | 8th | 4th | 5 | 9 | 6th | ||
| 2016/17 | HC Red Ice | NLB | 43 | 22nd | 22nd | 44 | 26th | 5 | 3 | 4th | 7th | 6th | ||
| 2016/17 | HC Ambrì-Piotta | NLA | - | - | - | - | - | 1 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2017/18 | KHL Medveščak Zagreb | EBEL | 30th | 9 | 8th | 17th | 12 | 6th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6th | ||
| 2018/19 | MsHK Žilina | Extraliga Sk | 31 | 3 | 8th | 11 | 18th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2018/19 | EHC Freiburg | DEL2 | 8th | 5 | 2 | 7th | 4th | 14th | 7th | 8th | 15th | 10 | ||
| 2019/20 | EHC Freiburg | DEL2 | 4th | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| NHL overall | 18th | 1 | 5 | 6th | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| AHL total | 240 | 69 | 97 | 166 | 158 | 29 | 11 | 7th | 18th | 20th | ||||
| Extraliga (Czech Republic) overall | 229 | 62 | 42 | 104 | 130 | 51 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 24 | ||||
International
| year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Slovakia | U18 World Cup | 5th place | 6th | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4th | 1 | |
| 2001 | Slovakia | U20 World Cup | 8th place | 7th | 3 | 3 | 6th | 4th | +1 | |
| Juniors overall | 13 | 3 | 8th | 11 | 8th | ± 0 | ||||
Web links
- Jozef Balej at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Jozef Balej at eliteprospects.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jason Diamos: Rangers Trade Kovalev To Montreal. In: New York Times . March 3, 2004, accessed July 31, 2019 .
- ↑ Canucks Trade Fedor Fedorov to Rangers. In: apnews.com. October 8, 2005, accessed July 31, 2019 .
- ↑ Balej switches to Red Ice. In: eishockeyticker.ch. November 5, 2015, accessed August 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Markus Rinner: EBEL: Zagreb brings former NHL striker and fixes return of his ex-goalkeeper. In: hockey-news.info. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Benjamin Resetz: Ex-NHL striker Jozef Balej changes to EHC Freiburg. In: badische-zeitung.de . February 9, 2019, accessed July 31, 2019 .
- ↑ EHC Freiburg extended with captain Philipp Rießle and striker Jozef Balej. In: eishockeynews .de. April 27, 2019, accessed July 31, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Balej, Jozef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Slovak ice hockey player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 22, 1982 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Myjava , Czechoslovakia |