Andrej Podkonický

Andrej Podkonický (born on May 9, 1978 in Zvolen) is a retired Slovak ice hockey player, currently the assistant coach of the HKM Zvolen of the Tipos Extraliga. He was selected 196th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Club career
Podkonický began his senior career with the HKM Zvolen of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR where he played in 1994 - 1996.

In 1996 - 1998, Podkonický played with the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL. In the 1997-98 season, he became the WHL champion, the CHL Memorial Cup champion, won the Ed Chynoweth Award for the player who scored most points in the CHL Memorial Cup and was selected into the CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

Next two seasons spent Podkonický with the Worcester IceCats of the AHL.

In the 2000-01 season, after 16 games played with the Worcester IceCats of the AHL, he was traded to the Florida Panthers organisation for Eric Boguniecki on December 17, 2000 and played six games with the Florida Panthers of the NHL during the 2000-01 NHL season, scoring one goal. In this season, he also played 41 games with the Louisville Panthers of the AHL.

Podkonický then moved to Europe and played 23 games with the HIFK of the SM-liiga and 16 games with the HC Slovan Bratislava of the Boss Extraliga in the 2001-02 season. In this season, he became the Slovak champion with the HC Slovan Bratislava.

In the 2002-03 season, he played with the Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL.

He signed with the Washington Capitals organisation for the 2003-04 season and was assigned to the AHL's Portland Pirates, playing just two games with the Washington Capitals of the NHL. He played 56 games with the Portland Pirates of the AHL instead. He was named the AHL Player of the Week on April 11, 2004.

Podkonický then moved to Czechia and signed with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga (since the 2006-07 season called the O2 Extraliga). He stayed there until the end of the 2006-07 season. In the 2005-06 season, he was the player who scored most shorthanded goals (3) among all Tipsport Extraliga players.

Podkonický began the 2007-08 season with the Vityaz Chekhov of the Superliga. He played there 37 games. He also played 2 games with the Vityaz Chekhov-2 of the Pervenstvo VHL. After that, he returned to the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the O2 Extraliga where he finished the season with 5 regular season games and 9 play-off games played.

In the 2008-09 season, Podkonický played 51 regular season games and 3 play-off games with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the O2 Extraliga and 1 game on loan with the HC Benátky nad Jizerou of the 1. Liga. In this season, he became the foreigner who scored most points (37) in the O2 Extraliga.

Podkonický then continued with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the O2 Extraliga (since the 2010-11 season again named the Tipsport Extraliga).

After the 2010-11 season, he moved to the HC Kometa Brno of the Tipsport Extraliga, but he played there only 16 games, for the second half of the season, he was loaned to the BK Mladá Boleslav of the Tipsport Extraliga. He finished there this season with 31 regular season games, 12 relegation games and 7 Tipsport Extraliga qualification games played.

After that season, he moved back to Slovakia, where played his last three years of his career for his hometown club, the HKM Zvolen of the Tipsport Extraliga (formerly Boss Extraliga). In the 2012-13 season, he became the Slovak champion.

International career
Podkonický played with the Slovak National Team at the 1995 European U18 Championship "Pool B" (winning there gold), 1996 European U18 Championship, 1996 and 1998 World Junior Championship s and at the 2007, 2008 and 2010 World Championships.

As the assistant coach, he represented Slovakia at the 2019 World Championship.

Team Staff achievements
In the 2020-21 season, he became the Slovak champion with the HKM Zvolen.