Michal Birner

Michal Birner (born on March 2, 1986 in Litoměřice) is a Czech ice hockey left winger currently playing with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga. He was selected 116th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Club career
Birner began his junior career with the HC Slavia Praha organisation and made his senior debut during the 2003-04 season when he played one game with the HC Slavia Praha of the Tipsport Extraliga and 55 regular season and 2 play-off games with the HC Slavia Praha under-20 team.

In 2004, Birner moved to North America and began the 2004-05 season with the Barrie Colts of the OHL but after 28 games played with the Colts, Birner moved to the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. He finished there the season with 31 games played.

He continued with the Spirit during the 2005-06 season.

In 2006, Řepík signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues organisation and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.

On December 15, 2007, after 18 games played in the season, the Blues traded Birner, along with Doug Weight and a 7th round draft choice to the Anaheim Ducks organisation for Andy McDonald. Birner was assigned to the Ducks' AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates where he remained for the rest of the 2007-08 season and played there 40 regular season games and 15 play-off games.

Birner started the 2008-09 season with the Iowa Chops of the AHL before he was assigned to ECHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors on November 20, 2008. Birner didn't report to the Condors and returned to Europe to play in the Finnish SM-liiga with the Pelicans on November 27, 2008. Birner's season was cut short as he suffered a fractured hand after playing in only 6 games.

On July 7, 2009, Birner was signed by the TPS of the SM-liiga for the 2009-10 season. Birner helped the TPS become the SM-liiga champion. He stayed with the TPS until the end of the 2011-12 season.

In 2012, Birner signed with the newly established team, the HC Lev Praha of the KHL. The Lev sent Birner back to the TPS of the SM-liiga for the beginning of the season. After 10 games played with the TPS, Birner started playing with the Lev and finished there the season with 24 regular season games and 2 play-off games played.

During the next season played Birner only with the HC Lev Praha of the KHL.

After the HC Lev Praha was folded in 2014, Birner signed with the KalPa of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga).

In 2015, Birner moved back to his native Czechia and signed with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga and helped the team win the Tipsport Extraliga title.

Birner signed with the Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL for the 2016-17 season but after 12 games played with the Traktor, the contract was terminated and Birner finished the season with the HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NLA. He played there 31 regular season games and 10 relegation games in that season.

Birner continued with the HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NL (formerly NLA) during the 2017-18 season. He also began the 2018-19 season there but after 9 games played, he moved back to the Bílí Tygři Liberec to finish the season there. He played 32 regular season games and 17 play-off games with the Bílí Tygři in this season and scored most goals (7) in the whole Tipsport Extraliga play-offs.

Birner still plays with the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Tipsport Extraliga. In the 2019-20 season, he had the most assists (41) in the whole league. He is currently signed until the end of the 2021-22 season.

International career
Birner played with the Czech National Team at the 2004 World U18 Championship (winning the bronze medal), 2006 World Junior Championship, 2016 and 2017 World Championship s, 2016 World Cup of Hockey and at the 2018 Olympics.