Andrej Meszároš

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Position	Defense
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 208 lb (95 kg)
NHL Team	Ottawa Senators
Nationality	Slovakia
Born	October 13, 1985, Považská Bystrica, CS
NHL Draft	23rd Overall, 2004 Ottawa Senators
Pro Career	2005 – present

Andrej Meszároš, #14 (born October 13, 1985 in Považská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak ice hockey defenceman currently with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL.

Andrej Meszároš was drafted by the Senators in 2004, as the first pick for the Senators (23rd overall). He is playing in his first season in the NHL (2005-06). Prior to this, he played for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL and Dukla Trenčín in the Slovak Extraliga. He also played with the Slovak national ice hockey team in the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Meszároš was the second youngest player at the Men’s tournament in the Torino Olympics. Only Russia’s Evgeni Malkin was younger.

Meszároš is known primarily for being a strong positional defencemen with great ability to move the puck up the ice. He is a great example of how after the 2005 lockout and rule changes, the NHL is encouraging fancier and more skillful play. His style of play has been compared to that of the perennial all-star defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom.

Contents 1 Career highlights 2 Career statistics 3 International play 4 External links

[edit] Career highlights

Scored first NHL assist October 10th, 2005 in a 6-5 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs

Scored first NHL goal December 9th, 2005 against the Vancouver Canucks at 5:01 in the 3rd period to tie the game (which would be won by Vancouver in an overtime shootout)

As a 20 year old NHL rookie was named to Team Slovakia for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Led the NHL in plus-minus rating for most of his rookie year (2005/6), and finished tied for third in that category with Jaromir Jagr at +34

Scored 39 points, second only to Dion Phaneuf among first-year defensemen

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular Season							Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
2005-06	Ottawa	NHL		82	10	29	39	+34	61		10	1	0	1	0	18
NHL Totals				82	10	29	39	+34	61		10	1	0	1	0	18

[edit] International play

• U-18 World Junior Championships (2002, 2003 silver)
• World Junior Championships (2004, 2005)
• World Championships (2004)
• Played for Team Slovakia in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino

[edit] External links

• Statistics - from Internet Hockey Database
• Andrej Meszároš at the NHL official page
• Andrej Meszaros at NHLPA
• Andrej Meszároš at the Ottawa Senators page