Milan Hnilička
 Milan Hnilička 
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| Date of birth | June 25, 1973 |
| place of birth | Litoměřice , Czechoslovakia |
| size | 183 cm |
| Weight | 88 kg |
| position | goalkeeper |
| number | # 33 |
| Catch hand | Left |
| Draft | |
| NHL Entry Draft |
1991 , 4th round, 70th position New York Islanders |
| Career stations | |
| 1989-1997 | HC Kladno |
| 2000-2003 | Atlanta Thrashers |
| 2004-2007 | Bílí Tygři Liberec |
| 2007-2008 | Salawat Yulayev Ufa |
| 2008-2009 | Bílí Tygři Liberec |
| 2009-2010 | HC Slavia Prague |
Milan Hnilička (born June 25, 1973 in Litoměřice , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey goalkeeper who has been under contract as a sports manager at BK Mladá Boleslav from the Czech 1st division since 2010 . During his long career in North America, he has played in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers , Atlanta Thrashers and Los Angeles Kings .
Career
Milan Hnilička began his career at HC Kladno , for whom he made his debut in the Czechoslovak first division in the 1989/90 season . During the 1991 NHL Entry Draft , he was selected in the fourth round in 70th place by the New York Islanders . His first stop in North America was the Swift Current Broncos from the WHL , for which he completed the 1992/93 season. For the next two years he played with the Richmond Renegades , Salt Lake Golden Eagles and Denver Grizzlies . In the summer of 1995 he returned to the Czech Republic for HC Kladno. Two years later he moved within the league to HC Sparta Prague before the New York Rangers brought him to Hartford in 1999 as a free agent on their farm team . In the 1999/2000 season he made his NHL debut for the Rangers and at the end of the season Hnilička won the Calder Cup with the Hartford Wolf Pack .
In the summer of 2000, the contract with the Rangers expired and Milan Hnilička switched to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he prevailed against Norm Maracle in the training camp and was back-up from regular goalkeeper Damian Rhodes . In the following season , Rhodes plagued with injuries, so that Hnilička was the goalkeeper and reached a catch rate of 90.8% in 60 games. After spending most of the 2002/03 season with the Thrashers' farm team, the Chicago Wolves , he was transferred to the Los Angeles Kings in September 2003. But even with the Kings he could not prevail and only completed two NHL games. Then he was used with the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL . On December 31, 2003, he injured his finger in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes and did not recover from this injury until the end of the season.
Since he was not offered a new NHL contract in the summer of 2004 and the NHL lockout was already in sight, Hnilička decided to move home to the Bílí Tygři Liberec , for whom he played until autumn 2007. He was then committed by the Russian super league team Salawat Julajew Ufa , but returned to Liberec in the summer of 2008. After the 2008/09 season he got no new contract and was initially without a club. He was only signed by HC Slavia Prague in December 2009 , but after three appearances for Slavia, his contract was terminated in mid-January 2010.
In 2010 he ended his playing career and became a sports manager at BK Mladá Boleslav .
International
Milan Hnilička has participated in all major international championships throughout his career. He celebrated his first successes in the jersey of the U18 national team of Czechoslovakia when he was named the best goalkeeper at the U18 European Championship in 1991 and was elected to the All-Star team .
After the division of his home country, he won several bronze medals at world championships with the Czech national team . The greatest success of his career was winning the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , although he was not used in any game.
A year later he won the world championship title as a regular goalkeeper with the Czech selection and was able to repeat this success in 2001 and 2005. In February 2006 he won the bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in Turin, where he shared the goalkeeping post with Tomáš Vokoun . In the same year he won another World Cup medal, this time the silver medal.
Achievements and Awards
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Trivia
The Czech composer Martin Smolka composed the opera "Nagano" in 2001-2003 about the gold medal won by the Czech national ice hockey team at the Olympics in Nagano . The plot of the stage work is told from the perspective of the third goalkeeper Milan Hnilička and his parents.
Web links
- Milan Hnilička at eurohockey.com
- Milan Hnilička at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Milan Hnilička at hockeygoalies.org
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Hnilička, Milan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hnilicka, Milan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czech ice hockey goalkeeper |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Litoměřice , Czechoslovakia |