Luka Gračnar

Luka Gračnar
Date of birth	October 31, 1993
place of birth	Jesenice , Slovenia
Nickname	Gračko
size	179 cm
Weight	83 kg
position	goalkeeper
number	# 33
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
2007-2010	HD mladi Jesenice
2010-2018	EC Red Bull Salzburg
2018	HK Poprad
2018-2019	HC Innsbruck
2019-2020	Storhamar Hockey
since 2020	EHC Linz

Luka Gračnar (born October 31, 1993 in Jesenice ) is a Slovenian ice hockey goalkeeper who has been under contract with EHC Linz in the Austrian ice hockey league since August 2020 .

Career

Club career

Gračnar emerged from the youth club HD mladi Jesenice . He made his debut in the Slovenian ice hockey league for the club in 2008 at the age of 14 . Two years later he joined the EC Red Bull Salzburg training program . In the 2010/11 season he played his first game in Austria's top division in the away defeat against the EC Graz 99ers .

After a season without playing in the first team, he became the new goalkeeper in the 2012/13 season through the dismissal of Josh Tordjman . Although well-known competitors with Alex Auld and Bernd Brückler had been committed during the season , Gračnar continued to receive missions. The Slovenian then extended his contract by three years until the 2015/16 season. In the 2013/14 season he achieved the best conceded goal in the league with just 1.97 goals per game.

National team career

Gračnar is internationally active for the Slovenian national team . He contested various world championships for the U18 and U20 selections in his country. He was voted the best player of his team at the Division I tournament of the U18 World Cup in 2011 . In the same year he was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament at the U20 World Cup in Division I. At the U20 World Cup in Division I in 2013 , he then received the title of the best goalkeeper of the tournament as well as the best player in the Slovenian team.

His first career highlight was participating in the 2013 World Cup in Sweden and Finland . There he played two games in the preliminary round against Sweden and Canada . With numerous brilliant saves, he kept his team in the game against the big favorites for a long time, but ultimately could not prevent relegation. In the same year he was also in the squad of the Slovenes at the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Winter Games . There he was only used in the final game against Ukraine , when he was substituted on for the last third when the score was 5-0. The same fate befell him again at the Winter Olympics in Sochi , when he was only used in the 5-1 defeat by the United States . In April 2014 he became the main support of his team at the World Cup of Division I and secured the return to the top division with his performance. With the best catch rate and the lowest conceded goals per game, he was not only voted the best player on his team and the best goalkeeper of the tournament, but was also recognized as a member of the All-Star Team and most valuable player at the event.

During the summer breaks, the goalkeeper works for the Slovenian national inline hockey team.

Achievements and Awards

• 2011 Austrian champion with the EC Red Bull Salzburg
• 2014 Lowest goals against goals in the Austrian Ice Hockey League
• 2014 Austrian champion with the EC Red Bull Salzburg
• 2015 Austrian champion with the EC Red Bull Salzburg
• 2016 Austrian champion with the EC Red Bull Salzburg

International

• 2010 Promotion to Division I at the U18 Junior World Championship of Division II
• 2011 Best goalkeeper of the U20 World Junior Championship in Division I.
• 2013 Best goalkeeper of the U20 World Junior Championship in Division I.
• 2014 Promotion to the top division at the World Championship Division I, Group A.
• 2014 Most Valuable Player of the World Cup Division I, Group A.
• 2014 All-Star Team of the World Championship Division I, Group A.
• 2014 Highest catch quota and lowest goals against goals in the World Cup in Division I, Group A.
• 2019 Highest catch quota and lowest goals against goals in the World Cup in Division I, Group A.

Career statistics

				Regular season				Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	ATM	SV%		Sp	ATM	SV%
2007/08	HD mladi Jesenice	Slovenia U20		7th	2.03	-		0	-	-
2007/08	HD mladi Jesenice	Slovenia		4th	2.92	-		-	-	-
2008/09	HD mladi Jesenice	Slovenia U20		0	-	-		1	0.00	100.0
2009/10	HD mladi Jesenice	Slovenia U20		19th	1.50	-		6th	1.71	-
2009/10	HD mladi Jesenice	Slohokej		25th	2.27	-		6th	2.17	-
2009/10	HD mladi Jesenice	Slovenia		4th	4.00	-		-	-	-
2009/10	HK Jesenice	EBEL		0	-	-		-	-	-
2010/11	RB Hockey Academy	RBHRC U18		26th	2.28	93.1		-	-	-
2010/11	EC Red Bull Salzburg II	Austria2		6th	3.96	88.2		2	3.04	90.6
2010/11	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		3	5.91	83.6		-	-	-
2011/12	EC Red Bull Salzburg U20	Austria U20		-	-	-		-	-	-
2011/12	RB Hockey Juniors	RBHRC U20		25th	2.12	92.9		-	-	-
2012/13	RB Hockey Juniors	RBHRC U20		2	3.03	90.2		-	-	-
2012/13	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		27	2.41	92.1		9	2.22	92.4
2013/14	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		36	1.97	92.6		3	4.69	83.1
2014/15	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		27	2.04	92.7		13	2.08	93.5
2015/16	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		43	2.60	91.5		5	3.11	91.2
2016/17	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		29	2.36	91.9		0	-	-
2017/18	EC Red Bull Salzburg	EBEL		19th	2.72	90.8		0	0.00	100.0
2018/19	HK Poprad	Extraliga (Slovakia)		11	2.53	93.0		-	-	-
2018/19	HC Innsbruck	EBEL		25th	2.91	90.1		-	-	-

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; ¹  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Web links

Commons : Luka Gračnar  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Luka Gračnar at eurohockey.com
• Luka Gračnar at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ hockey-news.info: Salzburg extended with Gracnar for a further 3 years  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.