Josef Melichar

Josef Melichar IV (born January 20, 1979) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman.

Josef Melichar
Born (1979-01-20) January 20, 1979
České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Carolina Hurricanes
HC Sparta Praha
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
HC České Budějovice
Linköpings HC
NHL Draft 221st overall, 1997
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1999–2011

Playing career

Melichar was drafted in the 3rd round (71st overall) by the Penguins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He played two junior seasons with the Tri-City Americans of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) from 1997 to 1999, and was nominated for the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s top defenceman award in 1998. The award would go to future Penguins teammate and frequent defense partner Michal Rozsíval.

Melichar's first pro season was spent with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL) in their inaugural 1999–00 season. He was the only member of the team to play in all 80 games.

Melichar made his NHL debut as a 21-year-old in October 2000, and played in 18 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins were stacked with Czech players that season, with Melichar being one of eleven to suit up for the team. He was sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and participated in their long playoff run, which ended with a loss in the 2001 Calder Cup finals.

He became a permanent fixture on Pittsburgh's blueline in 2001–02, with a strong rookie season that ended prematurely with a shoulder injury. After being rewarded with a one-way contract, Melichar only played eight games in the 2002–03 season due to re-aggravation of the shoulder injury.

After several shoulder surgeries, Melichar came prepared for training camp in 2003, only to injure the same shoulder yet again. However, the injury was not as severe as expected, and he was able to play in all 82 games in the 2003–04 season. He also scored his first NHL goal that season (in his 137th NHL game) against John Grahame and the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 27, 2004, in a 6-2 Penguins loss.[1]

After playing for HC Sparta Praha in the Czech Republic during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he signed a multi-year contract with Pittsburgh on August 15, 2005. He was named an alternate captain for the 2005–06 Penguins on March 11, 2006. Melichar finished the season with 3 goals and 12 assists for a career high 15 points in 72 games.

Melichar in his sixth and final season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was partnered on the 2nd defensive pairing with Rob Scuderi. He was second on the team in blocked shots and maintained a strong plus-minus rating throughout the season, while playing against opposing teams' top players. Without a contract offer from the Penguins, Melichar left for Europe and played with HC České Budějovice in the Czech Extraliga and Linköpings HC in the Swedish Elitserien.

On July 1, 2008, Melichar signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. Melichar was then traded by the Hurricanes, along with Wade Brookbank and a fourth round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jussi Jokinen on February 7, 2009.[2] He then left his club the Tampa Bay Lightning in July 2009 and he then turned back to his hometown České Budějovice and signed for HC České Budějovice.[3]

On August 10, 2010, Melichar signed a contract with Linköpings HC, marking his second tenure at the Swedish club.

On July 5, 2011, Melichar signed with HC Pardubice,[4] making it his fourth time that he has played in Pardubice.

Retirement

Melichar abruptly announced his retirement on August 18, 2011, only a month after signing his one-year contract. A statement released from HC Pardubice read: "After a long deliberation, taking into account his family situation, [Josef Melichar] decided this season to retire from hockey for personal reasons and asked us for early termination of the recently signed professional contract with our club.[5]"

Michal Sivek, Melichar's agent and former teammate, would not elaborate on Melichar's retirement other than saying "He simply has no desire to play hockey.[5]"

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1995–96 HC České Budějovice CZE U18 38 3 4 7 — — — — —
1996–97 HC České Budějovice CZE U20 41 2 3 5 10 — — — — —
1997–98 Tri–City Americans WHL 67 9 24 33 152 — — — — —
1998–99 Tri–City Americans WHL 65 8 28 36 125 11 1 0 1 15
1999–2000 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 3 9 12 126 — — — — —
2000–01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 18 0 2 2 21 — — — — —
2000–01 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 46 2 5 7 69 21 0 5 5 6
2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 0 3 3 68 — — — — —
2002–03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 8 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 3 5 8 62 — — — — —
2004–05 HC Sparta Praha ELH 13 0 4 4 8 5 0 0 0 6
2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 72 3 12 15 66 — — — — —
2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 1 11 12 44 5 0 0 0 2
2007–08 HC Mountfield ELH 6 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2007–08 Linköpings HC SEL 50 0 8 8 74 16 1 1 2 39
2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 15 0 4 4 8 — — — — —
2008–09 Albany River Rats AHL 25 1 4 5 35 — — — — —
2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 24 0 5 5 29 — — — — —
2008–09 Norfolk Admirals AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2009–10 HC Mountfield ELH 52 5 9 14 80 5 0 0 0 6
2010–11 HC Mountfield ELH 12 0 1 1 8 — — — — —
2010–11 Linköpings HC SEL 41 0 5 5 24 7 0 0 0 2
AHL totals 152 6 18 24 230 21 0 5 5 6
NHL totals 349 7 42 49 300 5 0 0 0 2
ELH totals 83 5 14 19 98 10 0 0 0 12

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1997 Czech Republic EJC 6 0 1 1 6

Transactions

References
  1. "Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins Box Score — January 27, 2004".
  2. NHL.com (2009). "Hurricanes acquire Jussi Jokinen from Tampa Bay". NHL.com. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  3. Melichar se vrátil domů i kvůli rodině
  4. Jan Hrabal (July 5, 2011). "Pardubice získaly Josefa Melichara!" (in Czech). hokej.idnes.cz. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  5. Peter Paul and Mirko Vasic (August 18, 2011). "Pardubice přišly o velkou posilu, obránce Melichar ukončil kariéru" (in Czech). hokej.idnes.cz. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
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