Daniel Tkaczuk

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Daniel Tkaczuk (born on June 10, 1979 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player of Polish origin.

His junior career and early pro years looked promising: he is one of two players (together with American David Legwand) in the OHL Coaches Poll to receive votes in four separate categories: Smartest Player, Most Dangerous in the Goal Area, Best Play Maker, Best Skater.

Tkaczuk was selected 6th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames, represented Canada at the 1999 Under 20 World Junior Championship and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team the following season. He thus earned some time in the NHL with the Calgary Flames during the 2000/01 campaign, but returned to the minors and never saw NHL action again.

Tkaczuk left the Flames system at the end of 2000/01 and played two more years in the AHL for the Worcester IceCats and Bridgeport Soundtigers. Unhappy with his shaky status in the minors, he looked for better fortune in Europe, spending the 2003/04 season with Lukko Rauma of Finland's major league, the SM Liiga. His numbers were acceptable given Lukko's rather low profile, but not outstanding enough to grant him a perennial place in Finland.

Tkaczuk then turned to Milan, the highest paying club in the Italian league, where his several talents found more room to express themselves. In the middle of a rather dense Milan roster, Tkaczuk even outplayed some of the NHLers spending time in the Italian championship while the 2004/05 labor conflict was raging on. His performance was good enough for a 3rd place leaguewide, both in points and goals (regular season scoring).

Thanks to those solid numbers, Tkaczuk was one of 3 Milan players (the others being center Marc Savard and veteran forward Ryan Savoia) named to Team Canada's roster for the 2004 Loto Cup in Slovakia. Milan went on to win the national title, their 4th in a row despite extreme resistance from finalist Cortina.

In the late summer of 2005, Tkaczuk tried out for the Krefeld Pinguine of the Deutsche Eishockey-Liga. He was also in talks with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins and Lada Togliatti in the very selective Russian pro league before eventually opting to return to Milan.

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