Patrick Kaleta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Position | Right Wing |
Shoots | Right |
Nickname | Klatsy, Angola's Native Son |
Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) |
NHL Team (P) Cur. Team |
Buffalo Sabres Rochester (AHL) |
Nationality | United States |
Born | June 8, 1986 (age 20), Angola, NY, USA |
NHL Draft | 176th overall, 2004 Buffalo Sabres |
Pro Career | 2006 – present |
Patrick Kałeta (born June 8, 1986, in Angola, New York) is a professional ice hockey right wing. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round, 176th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Kaleta spent his junior hockey career with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League where he compiled 147 points and 460 penalty minutes in four seasons. Kaleta signed his first professional contract in June 2006 with the Buffalo Sabres.
In the 2006 OHL playoffs, Kaleta scored 8 goals and added 10 assists as Peterborough reached the Memorial Cup, the four-team Canadian junior championship tournament.
Kaleta spent two years playing for St. Francis High School's Prep hockey team in Athol Springs, a few minutes south of Buffalo, New York. During his sophomore year at St. Francis, Kaleta wowed OHL scouts at the St. Andrew's MacPherson Tournament in Toronto. His career received a kickstart that season when the Peterborough Petes selected him with the 31st overall pick during the 2002 OHL Priority Selection draft.
On February 21, 2007, Kaleta was called up by his parent club, the Buffalo Sabres. In his first NHL game on February 22, 2007 against the Ottawa Senators, he earned his first NHL point -- an assist on a goal by Clarke MacArthur.
Kaleta is just the second Buffalo-area resident to play for the hometown Sabres, the first being Scott Thomas, who played 39 games for the Sabres between 1992 and 1994.[1]