Peter Smrek

Peter Smrek
Born (1979-02-16) 16 February 1979
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
PositionDefence
Shot Left
Played forSt. Louis BluesNew York RangersGrizzly Adams WolfsburgMora IKFrankfurt LionsMHC MartinHC PlzeňSeverstal Cherepovets
National team Slovakia
NHL draft 85th overall, 1999St. Louis Blues
Playing career 2000–20102013–2015

Peter Smrek (born 16 February 1979) is a Slovak former professional ice hockeydefenceman who played 28 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.

Playing career

Amateur

Smrek played for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) during the 1998–99 season and helped them win the 1999 Clark Cup Championship.[1]

Professional

Smrek was drafted 85th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut on February 10, 2001 against the Colorado Avalanche.[2] but only managed to play 6 games with the Blues, spending most of his time with the Blues' American Hockey League affiliate the Worcester IceCats. He was later traded to the New York Rangers and played 22 further games in the NHL, but again spent most of his spell in the AHL, this time with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He was then traded to the Nashville Predators and then to the Ottawa Senators, but never played another NHL game. In total, Smrek played 28 NHL games, scoring two goals and four assists for 6 points and collected 18 penalty minutes.

In 2004, Smrek moved to Germany and signed for the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams where he scored 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points and was the Grizzly Adams' top scoring defenceman. However the Grizzly Adams were relegated from the DEL and as a result, Smrek was on the move again. Smrek signed on with Mora IK of Sweden's Elitserien where he only managed to score 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points. After one season in Sweden, Smrek returned to Germany and signed for the Frankfurt Lions. He moved on 14 October 2008 from Frankfurt Lions to Czech Extraliga club HC Lasselsberger Plzeň and then on 30 May 2009 further to Severstal Cherepovets.

After a three year hiatus from professional hockey, Smrek returned to play two seasons with hometown club, MHC Martin of the Slovak Extraliga, from the 2013–14 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeam League GP GAPtsPIMGP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 MHC MartinSlovak.20 23 0 5 5 24
1998–99 Des Moines BuccaneersUSHL52 6 26 32 59 14 2 7 9 8
1999–00Worcester IceCatsAHL64 5 19 24 26 2 0 0 0 4
1999–00Peoria RivermenECHL4 1 1 2 2
2000–01Worcester IceCats AHL 50 2 7 9 71
2000–01St. Louis BluesNHL6 2 0 2 2
2000–01 New York RangersNHL 14 0 3 3 12
2000–01 Hartford Wolf PackAHL 5 0 2 2 2
2001–02Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 50 2 5 7 36
2001–02New York Rangers NHL 8 0 1 1 4
2001–02 Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL 8 0 2 2 4
2002–03Milwaukee Admirals AHL 68 3 20 23 70 5 0 0 0 0
2003–04Binghamton SenatorsAHL 80 5 18 23 91 2 0 0 0 4
2004–05Grizzly Adams WolfsburgDEL51 13 14 27 70
2005–06Mora IKSEL45 6 13 19 102 5 3 1 4 8
2006–07Frankfurt LionsDEL 26 3 4 7 140 3 0 0 0 2
2007–08Frankfurt Lions DEL 53 3 12 15 84 4 0 0 0 18
2008–09MHC Martin Slovak4 0 0 0 8
2008–09HC PlzeňELH43 5 8 13 80 16 1 7 8 22
2009–10Severstal CherepovetsKHL29 1 3 4 46
2013–14MHC Martin Slovak 27 3 5 8 40
2014–15MHC Martin Slovak 35 4 10 14 73 4 0 0 0 8
NHL totals 28 2 4 6 18
Medal record
Representing  Slovakia
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2002 Sweden
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place1999 Canada

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1997SlovakiaEJC186th 6 0 0 0 20
1999Slovakia WJC3rd place, bronze medalist(s)6 0 1 1 4
2002SlovakiaOG13th 4 0 0 0 0
2002Slovakia WC1st place, gold medalist(s)9 0 0 0 8
2009Slovakia WC 10th 6 1 0 1 6
Junior totals 12 0 1 1 24
Senior totals 19 1 0 1 14

Awards and honours

Award Year
USHL
Clark Cup (Des Moines Buccaneers) 1999
AHL
All-Star Game2001[3]

Transactions

References

  1. ^"Peter Smrek player profile". eliteprospects.com. 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  2. ^"Blues, Avalanche boxscore 2001-02-10". hockeyreference.com. 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  3. ^"Canadian All-Stars 11, Planet USA All-Stars 10". American Hockey League. 2001-01-15. Retrieved 2019-02-01.