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Martin Straka
MartinStraka
Born September 3, 1972,
Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Height
Weight
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
174 lb (79 kg; 12 st 6 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
team
F. teams
retired
1. NHL
HC Škoda Plzeň
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators
New York Islanders
Florida Panthers
Los Angeles Kings
New York Rangers
IHL
Cleveland Lumberjacks
Tipsport Extraliga
HC Plzeň
Ntl. team Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
NHL Draft 19th overall, 1992
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1988–2014


Martin Straka (born on September 3, 1972 in Plzeň) is a retired Czech ice hockey center who is an assistant coach of the Czech National Team. He is also the general manager and franchise owner of his youth team HC Plzeň.

Straka was selected 19th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by Pittsburgh Penguins.

Club career[]

Straka began his senior career with TJ Škoda Plzeň (later HC Škoda Plzeň) of the 1. NHL.

In 1992, Straka signed with Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL and in his first NHL season, Straka scored 16 points in 42 regular season games and another 3 points in 11 play-off games. He also played 4 games for Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL.

In the 1993-94 season, Straka recorded 64 points in 84 games in the regular season and 1 point in 6 play-off games.

During the 1994-95 NHL lockout, Straka played for HC Interconnex Plzeň of the Extraliga. Then Straka returned to Pittsburgh. After producing only 4 goals and 16 points in 31 games, Straka was traded to the Ottawa Senators on April 7, 1995 for Norm MacIver and Troy Murray and Straka finished the season with Senators.

The following season, on January 23, 1996, less than a year after being traded to Ottawa, he was traded again. Straka, along with Don Beaupre and former #1 overall pick Bryan Berard was traded to the New York Islanders for Damian Rhodes and Wade Redden. He would be placed on waivers and claimed by the Florida Panthers on March 15, 1996. All in all, in the 1995-96 season, Straka played 43 games for the Senators, 22 games for the Islanders and 12 games for the Panthers.

Straka continued with Panthers in the 1996-97 season recording 29 points in 59 games.

Florida would not re-sign Straka after the 1996–97 season, which made him an unrestricted free agent. He then returned to Pittsburgh beginning in 1997-98.

He would go on to have a career year during the 2000–2001 season for Pittsburgh as he amassed 27 goals and 95 points and establish himself as one of the leagues premiere two-way players due to his explosive speed and on-ice vision. However, the following season his speedy reputation would be called into jeopardy as Straka would suffer a season-ending injury in the form of a broken leg, an injury which would take him years to recover from. On November 30, 2003, in a cost-cutting move, the Penguins would deal Straka to the Los Angeles Kings for Russian prospect Sergei Anshakov and defenceman Martin Štrbák. Straka finished the 2003-04 season with Kings.

During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Straka played again for HC Lasselsberger Plzeň of the Extraliga.

Straka would later sign as a free agent by the Rangers on August 2, 2005. On January 17, 2007, despite reports that he was considering retirement, Straka signed a one-year contract extension for the 2007–08 season.

On February 16, 2008 in a game against the Buffalo Sabres, Straka assisted on a goal to record his 700th NHL point.

After the 2007-08 season, Straka moved back to Europe to sign with HC Lasselsberger Plzeň (later HC Plzeň 1929 and even later HC Plzeň) and he eventually became the captain of the team. Straka retired there after the 2013-14 season.

International career[]

As a junior, Straka played for Czechoslovak National Team at the 1990 European U18 Championship and at the 1991 and 1992 World Junior Championships.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Straka participated as a member of the Czech National Team at the 1994 World Championship and at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

He was a part of the gold medal-winning Olympic team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Later, Straka participated at the 2003 World Championship and at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Also in 2004, Straka led the Czech Republic as the captain at the 2004 World Championship in Prague.

One year later, Straka won the gold medal at the 2005 World Championship.

In 2006, Straka played at the 2006 Olympics where the Czech Republic received the bronze medal.

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1989–90 Plzeň Czechoslovak 1 0 3 3 0
1990–91 Plzeň Czechoslovak 47 7 24 31 6
1991–92 Plzeň Czechoslovak 36 26 14 40 20 14 4 4 8
1992–93 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 4 4 3 7 0
1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 42 3 13 16 29 11 2 1 3 2
1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 30 34 64 24 6 1 0 1 2
1994–95 Plzeň Czech 19 10 11 21 0
1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 31 4 12 16 16
1994–95 Ottawa Senators NHL 6 1 1 2 0
1995–96 Ottawa Senators NHL 43 9 16 25 29
1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 22 2 10 12 6
1995–96 Florida Panthers NHL 12 2 4 6 6 13 2 2 4 2
1996–97 Florida Panthers NHL 55 7 22 29 12 4 0 0 0 0
1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 75 19 23 42 28 6 2 0 2 2
1998–99 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 35 48 83 26 13 6 9 15 6
1999–00 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 71 20 39 59 26 11 3 9 12 10
2000–01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 27 68 95 38 18 5 8 13 8
2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 13 5 4 9 0
2002–03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 18 28 46 12
2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 22 4 8 12 16
2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 32 6 8 14 4
2004–05 Plzeň Czech 45 16 18 34 76
2005–06 New York Rangers NHL 82 22 54 76 42 4 0 0 0 2
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 76 29 41 70 24 10 2 8 10 2
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 65 14 27 41 22 10 3 7 10 16
2008–09 Plzeň Czech 51 22 30 52 20 17 8 13 21 2
2009–10 Plzeň Czech 35 17 26 43 32 6 2 2 4 4
2010–11 Plzeň Czech 51 17 44 61 12 -- -- -- -- --
NHL totals 954 257 460 717 360 106 26 44 70 52
Czechoslovak/Czech Extraliga totals 285 115 170 285 166 37 14 19 33 6

International statistics[]

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
Gold 1998 Nagano Team
Bronze 2006 Turin Team
World Championships
Gold 2005 Vienna Ice hockey
Season Team Event GP G A P PIM
1998 CzechRep Oly 6 1 2 3 0
2005 CzechRep WC 9 3 1 4 8
2006 CzechRep Oly 8 2 6 8 6

Team Staff career[]

Role Team Years Notes
General manager HC Plzeň 2008 - present
Franchise owner HC Plzeň 2009 - present In 2009 - 2012 he was a majority owner with 70%
Coach HC Plzeň 2016 - 2017
Head coach HC Plzeň 2017 - 2018
Assitant coach Czech National Team 2020 - present

External links[]

Preceded by
Markus Näslund
Pittsburgh Penguins first round draft pick
1992
Succeeded by
Stefan Bergkvist
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