Michal Handzuš

Michal Handzuš (born on March 11, 1977 in Banská Bystrica) is a Slovak retired professional ice hockey center and currently the assistant coach of the Slovak National Team. He was selected 101st overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Club career
Handzuš's first experience with the senior hockey came in the 1993-94 season when he played 40 games with the SKI Banská Bystrica under-20 team and was also written on the roster of the SKI Banská Bystrica of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR but did not play in any game with the team.

In the 1994-95 season, Handzuš played with the SKI Banská Bystrica of the 1. Hokejová Liga SR and became the 1. Hokejová Liga SR champion.

In the 1995-96 season, he played 6 games with the IZB Banská Bystrica (formerly SKI Banská Bystrica) under-20 team and 19 games with the IZB Banská Bystrica of the Slovenská Extraliga V Ľadovom Hokeji.

Next season spent Handzuš with the HC SKP PS Poprad of the Slovenská Extraliga V Ľadovom Hokeji.

In 1997, Handzuš moved to North America and played the 1997-98 season with the Worcester IceCats of the AHL. In this season, he was named the AHL Player of the Week on April 5, 1998 and played at the 1998 AHL All-Star Game.

After that season, Handzuš started playing with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL and stayed there for two and a half seasons from 1998-99 to 2000-01. In the 1999-00 season, he was also the runner-up to the Frank J. Selke Trophy. He was then traded on March 13, 2001, after 36 games played in the season, with Ladislav Nagy, Jeff Taffe and two first-round draft picks to the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL for Keith Tkachuk. He finished the season there with 10 games played.

Handzuš then continued with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL in the next season. On June 12, 2002, Handzuš was traded with Robert Esche to the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL for Brian Boucher and a third-round draft pick. On December 5, 2002, he became only the second player in NHL history to score a penalty shot goal in overtime. In the 2003-04 season he finished second on the Flyers with 58 points.

During the 2004-05 NHL lockout he played with the HKM Zvolen which reached the playoff finals in the ST Extraliga (formerly Slovenská Extraliga V Ľadovom Hokeji). In this season, he made it into the ST Extraliga All-Star Team and was also named the best forward of the Continental Cup.

Handzuš then returned to the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL to continue there in the 2005-06 season.

On August 4, 2006, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL for Kyle Calder. Only eight games into his season with Chicago, however, Handzuš suffered a torn ACL which sidelined him for what was originally projected to be the remainder of the 2006-2007 season.

On July 2, 2007, Handzuš signed with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. He stayed there until the end of the 2010-11 season.

In 2011, Handzuš moved to the San Jose Sharks of the NHL. He played there in the 2011-12 season.

Handzuš spent the 2012-13 NHL lockout with the HC Banská Bystrica (formerly IZB Banská Bystrica) of the Tipsport Extraliga (formerly ST Extraliga). He played there 15 games before he returned to the San Jose Sharks of the NHL. However, he played only 28 games with the San Jose Sharks. After that, Handzuš returned to the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. He finished there the season with 11 regular season games and 23 play-off games played and became the NHL Stanley Cup champion. Handzuš then continued with the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL in the next season.

After the 2013-14 season, Handzuš spent his last three years with the HC Banská Bystrica of the Tipsport Extraliga (since the 2015-16 season called the Tipsport Liga). In the 2016-17 season, his last one, he became the Slovak champion.

International career
Handzuš played with the Slovak National Team at the 1995 European U18 Championship "Pool B" (winning there gold), 1996 and 1997 World Junior Championship s, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2012 World Championship s (winning silver at the 2000 and 2012 tournaments and gold at the 2002 tournament) and at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Olympics.

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

International play

 * Silver medal with Slovakia in 2000 World Ice Hockey Championships
 * Played for Team Slovakia in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
 * Gold medal with Slovakia in 2002 World Ice Hockey Championships
 * Team Slovakia - 25 caps / 6 goals