Július Hudáček

Július Hudáček (born on August 9, 1988 in Spišská Nová Ves) is a Slovak ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Spartak Moskva of the KHL.

His brother is Libor Hudáček.

Club career
Hudáček began his junior career with the HK Spišská Nová Ves organisation. In the 2004-05 season, he played 23 regular season games and 2 play-off games of junior hockey with the HK Poprad organisation and he was also the second goalie in a few games with the HK Spišská Nová Ves of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR but did not make an appearance on the ice.

Next two seasons spent Hudáček playing junior hockey with the HK Spišská Nová Ves organisation.

In the 2007-08 season, he played 13 play-off games with the HK Spišská Nová Ves of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR while he was also its second goalie in the regular season and he also played 20 games with the HK VSR SR 20 of the Slovnaft Extraliga.

In the next season played Hudáček 22 regular season games and 8 play-off games with the HC Košice of the Slovnaft Extraliga and 5 games on loan with the HK Trebišov of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR. In this season, he became the Slovak champion and made it into the Slovnaft Extraliga All-Star Team.

In the 2009-10 season, Hudáček played 27 regular season games and 16 play-off games with the HC Košice of the Slovnaft Extraliga and also 2 games on loan with the HC 46 Bardejov of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR. In this season, he became the Slovnaft Extraliga champion for the second time in a row, was also selected into the Slovnaft Extraliga All-Star Team and was the goalie who had most shutouts (6) in the Slovnaft Extraliga.

Hudáček continued with the HC Košice of the Slovnaft Extraliga in the 2010-11 season. In this season, he won his third consecutive Slovnaft Extraliga title and was again selected into the Slovnaft Extraliga All-Star Team as he was the Slovnaft Extraliga goalie with most wins (39), most shutouts (10), best goals against average (1.79) and best save percentage (.936).

Next two seasons spent Hudáček in Sweden, to be more specific, the 2011-12 season with the Södertälje SK of the HockeyAllsvenskan and the 2012-13 season with the Frölunda HC of the Elitserien.

Hudáček then began the 2013-14 season with the Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL but he played there only 1 game before moving to the HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice of the Tipsport Extraliga. He finished there the season with 28 regular season games and 10 play-off games played.

After that, Hudáček played three seasons with the Örebro HK of the SHL (formerly Elitserien). In the 2014-15 season, he was named the SHL Goaltender of the Year and the SHL Most Valuable Player as he had the best save percentage (.930) in the SHL.

In the 2017-18 season played Hudáček with the Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL. In this season, he was named the KHL Goaltender of the Week on March 2, 2018 and played at the KHL All-Star Game.

Since 2018, Hudáček is playing with the Spartak Moskva of the KHL. In the 2018-19 season, he was named the KHL Goaltender of the Week on December 24, 2018 and again played at the KHL All-Star Game. In the 2019-20 season, he was named the KHL Goaltender of the Week on January 13, 2020 and played at the KHL All-Star Game for the third time in a row. He is currently signed with the Spartak Moskva until the end of the 2020-21 season.

International career
Hudáček played with the Slovak National Team at the 2008 World Junior Championship (being named there one of the top 3 players on the Slovak team) and at the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 World Championship s (at the 2012, 2013 and 2014 tournaments only as the second goalie who did not play a single second) (winning silver at the 2012 tournament and being named one of the top 3 players on the Slovak squad at the 2017 tournament).