Ondřej Palát

Ondřej Palát

Palát with the Tampa Bay Lightning in December 2014
Born (1991-03-28) 28 March 1991
Frýdek-Místek, CS
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 174 lb (79 kg; 12 st 6 lb)
Position Left Wing/Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team Tampa Bay Lightning
National team  Czech Republic
NHL Draft 208th overall, 2011
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2011–present

Ondřej Palát (born 28 March 1991) is a Czech professional ice hockey winger, and an alternate captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the seventh round, 208th overall, by the Lightning at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Junior

Palát began his ice hockey career in his native Czech Republic with HC Frýdek-Místek.[1] Prior to turning professional in North America, he played major junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He was then selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round, 208th overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Professional

On 10 October 2011, the Lightning signed Palát to a three-year, entry-level contract.[2] He then began his professional career with the Norfolk Admirals, Tampa Bay's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in the 2011–12 season. While a member of the Admirals, the club would set a professional hockey record by posting 28 consecutive wins.[3] Norfolk would go on to capture the Calder Cup as AHL champions.[4]

Palát played the next season in the AHL, 2012–13, with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay's new AHL affiliate. After a brief call-up to the NHL, he scored his first career NHL goal on 16 March 2013, against Justin Peters of the Carolina Hurricanes.[5] Palát would later be returned to Syracuse for the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs. After reaching the Calder Cup Final, Palát and his teammates had the unique opportunity at back-to-back AHL championships, despite playing for two different hockey clubs.[6] The Crunch, however, would fall to the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Final.[7]

Palát would make the Lightning's 2013–14 opening roster out of training camp, along with his AHL line-mates Tyler Johnson and Richard Pánik.[8] At the end of the season, he was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year, along with teammate Tyler Johnson.[9] Palát, along with Johnson, became the first teammates to be nominated for the Trophy since Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008.[10] The Trophy, however, eventually went to Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche,[11] though Palát was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.[12]

On 9 June 2014, the Lightning announced that they had signed Palát to a three-year contract extension. He had 23 goals, 59 points and a +32 plus-minus rating in 81 games for the Lightning in 2013–14. He ranked second among all NHL rookies in points, and was third in goals scored. Additionally, Palát became the third Lightning player to finish a season with a plus-minus rating higher than +30.[13]

On 9 November 2015, the Lightning announced that Palat had suffered a "lower body" injury, and was expected to miss 3-5 weeks. Palat was injured when a Minnesota Wild player fell awkwardly on his left leg/ankle.[14]

International

On 6 January 2014, Palát played for the Czech Republic at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.[15] The Czechs, however, were eliminated at the hands of the United States. During his first Olympic appearance, Palát appeared in four games for his country; he did not register any points or penalty minutes in his four Olympic contests.[16]

On 2 March 2016, the Czech Ice Hockey Association named Palát to its roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Palát will be joined by Lightning teammate Andrej Šustr. The tournament is set to run from 17 Sep to 1 October 2016, in Toronto.[17]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 59 17 23 40 24 7 1 1 2 0
2010–11 Drummondville Voltigeurs QMJHL 61 39 57 96 24 10 4 7 11 6
2011–12 Norfolk Admirals AHL 61 9 21 30 10 18 4 5 9 6
2012–13 Syracuse Crunch AHL 56 13 39 52 35 18 7 19 26 12
2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 14 2 2 4 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 23 36 59 20 3 2 1 3 0
2014–15 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 75 16 47 63 24 26 8 8 16 12
2015–16 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 62 16 24 40 20 — — — — —
NHL totals 232 57 109 166 64 29 10 9 19 12

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Czech Republic WJC18-D1 11th 5 6 2 8 2
2009 Czech Republic WJC18-D1 6th 6 1 0 1 2
2011 Czech Republic WJC 7th 6 2 1 3 0
2014 Czech Republic Oly 6th 4 4 0 4 0
Junior totals 17 9 3 12 4
Senior totals 4 40 0 0

Awards and honours

Award Year
AHL Calder Cup 2011–12 [18]
NHL All-Rookie Team 2013–14 [19]

References

  1. ↑ Hokej.cz - Ondřej Palát (HC Vítkovice Steel) 10. duben 2008 – Český hokej objevil další zajímavé jméno. Na mistrovství světa osmnáctiletých I. divize v polské Toruni zazářil útočník, o němž asi ještě
  2. ↑ "Lightning sign Palat". Tampa Bay Lightning. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  3. ↑ "Norfolk Admirals Official Website". Norfolkadmirals.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Norfolk Admirals Official Website". Norfolkadmirals.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning". Tampa Bay Lightning. 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  6. ↑ "Tampa Bay Lightning Affiliates - Syracuse Crunch". Lightning.nhl.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Grand Rapids Griffins win the Calder Cup thanks to late goal by Brennan Evans". MLive.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Lightning Announce Roster Cuts". Lightning.nhl.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "2014 NHL Awards: MacKinnon, Palat, Johnson are Calder Trophy finalists". SI.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nathan MacKinnon up for NHL's Calder Trophy for top rookie - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Avalanche's MacKinnon wins Calder Trophy". National Hockey League. 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  12. ↑ "NHL announces 2013-14 All-Rookie Team". National Hockey League. 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  13. ↑ "Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign Ondrej Palat to three-year contract". NHL.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Smith, Joke (9 November 2015). "Ondrej Palat out 3-5 weeks with lower body injury". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Lightning's Gudas, Palat make Czech Olympic team". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  16. ↑ Ondřej Palát's career statistics at EliteProspects.com. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  17. ↑ Peters, Chris (2 March 2016). "World Cup of Hockey: Czech Republic names prelim roster without Jagr". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Associated, Press (9 June 2012). "Norfolk Admirals win Calder Cup". ESPN NHL. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "National Hockey League announces 2013-14 All-Rookie Team". NHL.com. Retrieved 4 November 2014.

External links

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