Michael Kostka

Michael Kostka
Date of birth	November 28, 1985
place of birth	Ajax , Ontario , Canada
size	185 cm
Weight	95 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
2001-2003	Ajax Axemen
2003-2004	Aurora Tigers
2004-2008	University of Massachusetts Amherst
2008-2010	Portland Pirates
2010-2011	Rochester Americans
2011	San Antonio Rampage
2011–2012	Norfolk Admirals
2012-2013	Toronto Maple Leafs
2013-2014	Chicago Blackhawks
2014	Tampa Bay Lightning
2014-2015	Hartford Wolf Pack
2015-2017	Binghamton Senators
2017	Stockton Heat
since 2017	Skellefteå AIK

Michael Christopher Kostka (born November 28, 1985 in Ajax , Ontario ) is a Canadian ice hockey player who has been playing for Skellefteå AIK from the Svenska Hockeyligan since September 2017 and plays for the defender .

Career

Kostka in the jersey of the New York Rangers

Kostka played in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League until 2004 and then went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst until 2008 , where he played with the ice hockey team in the Hockey East , a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The defender distinguished himself as an outstanding student and was elected to the division's all-academic team for each of his four college years. He was also appointed to the Second All-Star Team at the end of the 2007/08 season.

Following his senior year at college, Kostka moved into the professional field and signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabers as a free agent . For their farm team , the Rochester Americans , Kostka completed a game at the end of the 2007/08 season before he played the following two years for the Portland Pirates and then again for a season for the Rochester Americans. Rochester had secured the services of the defender after his contract with the Sabers expired. In June 2011 he joined the Florida Panthers again as a free agent .

There he was used exclusively in the AHL until a transfer to the Tampa Bay Lightning . With Kostka, the Lightning had also signed Evan Oberg and handed over James Wright and Mike Vernace to Florida. But even in Tampa, the defender could not acquire a place in the NHL squad and found himself again in the AHL. With the Lightning farm team Norfolk Admirals , he won the Calder Cup at the end of the 2011/12 season . In July 2012, he finally moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs , where he made his NHL debut over the course of the season. Nevertheless, there was another change in the summer of 2013 - this time to the Chicago Blackhawks . There Kostka made the leap into the NHL squad at the start of the season. An injury suffered in mid-October prevented the breakthrough. The Canadian only returned on hold in February 2014, but was acquired by his ex-team Tampa Bay Lightning via the waiver . There he ended the 2013/14 season .

As a renewed free agent, he moved to the New York Rangers in July 2014 , where he was only used sporadically in the NHL. For the 2015/16 season , he finally switched to the Ottawa Senators , who extended his one-year contract for another year in the summer of 2016. In the Senators' organization, Kostka mostly worked in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators before he was handed over to the Calgary Flames with Curtis Lazar at the trade deadline on March 1, 2017 . In return, Senators received Jyrki Jokipakka and a second-round vote for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft . In the service of the Flames, the defensive player only ran for the Stockton Heat farm team until the end of the season .

After his contract expired, he joined Skellefteå AIK from Svenska Hockeyligan in early September 2017 .

Achievements and Awards

2005 Hockey East All-Academic Team 2006 Hockey East All-Academic Team 2007 Hockey East All-Academic Team 2008 Hockey East All-Academic Team

2008 Hockey East Second All-Star Team 2012 Calder Cup win with the Norfolk Admirals 2016 AHL All-Star Classic

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2016/17 season

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
2001/02	Ajax Axemen	OPJHL		19th	1	4th	5	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	Ajax Axemen	OPJHL		39	4th	11	15th	32		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	Aurora Tigers	OPJHL		42	9	27	36	4th		-	-	-	-	-
2004/05	University of Massachusetts Amherst	Hockey East		32	1	5	6th	14th
2005/06	University of Massachusetts Amherst	Hockey East		36	2	6th	8th	20th
2006/07	University of Massachusetts Amherst	Hockey East		39	3	15th	18th	20th
2007/08	University of Massachusetts Amherst	Hockey East		36	9	12	21st	20th
2007/08	Rochester Americans	AHL		1	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
2008/09	Portland Pirates	AHL		80	4th	26th	30th	33		4th	1	0	1	6th
2009/10	Portland Pirates	AHL		76	2	25th	27	37		4th	0	0	0	0
2010/11	Rochester Americans	AHL		80	16	39	55	46		-	-	-	-	-
2011/12	San Antonio Rampage	AHL		18th	2	4th	6th	14th		-	-	-	-	-
2011/12	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		52	7th	25th	32	43		18th	6th	6th	12	8th
2012/13	Toronto Marlies	AHL		34	6th	28	34	38		-	-	-	-	-
2012/13	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		35	0	8th	8th	27		1	0	0	0	0
2013/14	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		9	2	1	3	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2013/14	Rockford IceHogs	AHL		2	0	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-
2013/14	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		19th	2	6th	8th	0		3	0	2	2	0
2014/15	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		63	5	25th	30th	35		15th	1	4th	5	6th
2014/15	New York Rangers	NHL		7th	0	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
2015/16	Binghamton Senators	AHL		50	5	24	29	20th		-	-	-	-	-
2015/16	Ottawa Senators	NHL		15th	0	1	1	4th		-	-	-	-	-
2016/17	Binghamton Senators	AHL		46	1	11	12	32		-	-	-	-	-
2016/17	Stockton Heat	AHL		15th	2	10	12	4th		5	1	2	3	6th
OPJHL total				100	14th	42	56	44		-	-	-	-	-
NCAA overall				143	15th	38	53	74
AHL total				517	50	217	267	306		44	9	12	21st	26th
NHL overall				85	4th	17th	21st	39		4th	0	2	2	0

( 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 )

Web links

Commons : Michael Kostka  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Michael Kostka at eliteprospects.com (English)