Paul Szczechura

Paul Szczechura (/ʃɪˈhʊərə/;[1] born November 30, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Paul Szczechura
Born (1985-11-30) November 30, 1985
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
team
Former teams		 GKS Tychy
Tampa Bay Lightning
Buffalo Sabres
HC Lev Praha
Dinamo Riga
Dinamo Minsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2007–present

Early life

Szczechura grew up in the small town of Brantford, Ontario which is the hometown of other professional hockey players such as Wayne Gretzky, Pat Hickey, Chris Gratton, Keith Jones and Adam Henrique. He is of Polish descent.[2]

Playing career

Szczechura grew up playing hockey in his hometown of Brantford playing minor hockey for both the Brantford Saints and Brant Bandits AAA hockey programs. He played in the 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with Brantford.[3] After being drafted in the 11th round of the 2001 OHL Priority Selection by the Barrie Colts, Szczechura decided to pursue an NCAA scholarship and played three seasons with the Brantford Golden Eagles of the OHA Midwestern Ontario Jr.B. League. He accepted a scholarship to Western Michigan University in 2003.

Previously, Szczechura played for Western Michigan University (CCHA), the Iowa Stars (AHL) and the Norfolk Admirals (AHL). He signed with the Lightning as a free agent on April 24, 2008, and debuted against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 2, 2008. He scored his first NHL goal against Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins on December 8, 2008.[4] Szczechura scored his second career goal and assisted on another Lightning goal on December 23, 2008 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was named the first star of the game. He was later signed by the Buffalo Sabres to play with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. On November 26, 2011, the Sabres recalled Szczechura.[5]

On May 22, 2012, it was announced that Szczechura signed a one-year contract to join Czech team, HC Lev, for their first foray into the Kontinental Hockey League.[6] Szczechura appeared in three games to start the 2012–13 season, before losing his place in the high flying Lev squad. On September 26, 2012, Szczechura signed contract to transfer over with fellow KHL, club Dinamo Riga.[7] After two seasons, in May 2014 he signed a two-year contract with HC Dinamo Minsk.[8] After his contract had expired, he moved fellow to KHL outfit Traktor Chelyabinsk, signing in May 2016.

As a free agent from Chelyabinsk after three seasons, Szczechura extended his KHL career in agreeing to a one-year contract with his fifth KHL club, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod on July 16, 2019.[9]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03Brantford Golden EaglesOMHA4229417028—————
2003–04Western Michigan UniversityNCAA399112012—————
2004–05Western Michigan UniversityNCAA376232922—————
2005–06Western Michigan UniversityNCAA4010263647—————
2006–07Western Michigan UniversityNCAA3719264526—————
2006–07Iowa StarsAHL1434719103148
2007–08Iowa StarsAHL2923515—————
2007–08Norfolk AdmiralsAHL2414122616—————
2008–09Norfolk AdmiralsAHL3313162926—————
2008–09Tampa Bay LightningNHL3145912—————
2009–10Norfolk AdmiralsAHL358212924—————
2009–10Tampa Bay LightningNHL5252718—————
2010–11Norfolk AdmiralsAHL792230524331014
2011–12Rochester AmericansAHL562126472630110
2011–12Buffalo SabresNHL91344—————
2012–13HC Lev PrahaKHL30002—————
2012–13Dinamo RīgaKHL438202820—————
2013–14Dinamo RīgaKHL531718354270446
2014–15Dinamo MinskKHL551426403850110
2015–16Dinamo MinskKHL4513152832—————
2016–17Traktor ChelyabinskKHL601427413261232
2017–18Traktor ChelyabinskKHL5520224226141566
2018–19Traktor ChelyabinskKHL411051514—————
2019–20Torpedo Nizhny NovgorodKHL40411151240000
NHL totals 92 10 10 20 20 — — — — —
KHL totals 395 100 144 244 216 36 2 12 14 14

References
  1. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Paul Szczechura interview. YouTube.
  2. Paul Szczechura - the man who put Brantford on KHL map. KHL
  3. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  4. "Paul Szczechura player profile". Tampa Bay Lightning. December 12, 2010. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  5. "Sabres Sign Michael Ryan, Paul Szczechura to One-Year Deals". Buffalo Sabres. August 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  6. "Szczechura thanks fans for support". SabreNoise.com. May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  7. "Dinamo Riga agree with Paul Szczechura" (in Latvian). Dinamo Riga. September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  8. "КХЛ. Канадский форвард Щехура перешел в минское "Динамо"" (in Russian). May 5, 2014.
  9. "Szczechura becomes a torpedo player". Kontinental Hockey League. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.