| Marek Zidlicky | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 3, 1977 Most, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) |
| Position | Defence |
| Shoots | Right |
| NHL team Former teams |
Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators Helsingin IFK (SM-liiga) HC Kladno (CZE) |
| National team | Czech Republic |
| NHL Draft | 176th overall, 2001 New York Rangers |
| Playing career | 1994–present |
Marek Zidlicky (Czech spelling: Marek Židlický; Czech pronunciation: [ˈmarɛk ˈʒɪdlɪtskiː]; born February 3, 1977) is a Czech professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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Marek Zidlicky was selected 176th overall, in the sixth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft on June 24, 2001. He was selected as the sixth choice of the New York Rangers.
Zidlicky had a very strong 2000–01 season with HIFK of the Finnish SM-liiga, ranking third on his team in assists (25) and tied for second on his team in points (37). He also led the league in points by a defenceman. This was enough for the Rangers to draft him in the NHL entry draft that next summer.
However, Zidlicky and the Rangers could never agree to contract terms. The major sticking point was that Zidlicky wanted a one-way contract which would pay him the same amount of money regardless of whether he was playing in the NHL or the American Hockey League (AHL). He wanted this contract because he was worried about the depth of the Rangers and did not want to spend too much time in the minor leagues. However, the Rangers would not agree to such a deal and only offered a two-way contract, one that would pay him at a lower rate if he played in the AHL. Because of these contract differences, Zidlicky opted to stay in Finland and continue playing for HIFK.
Zidlicky had two more very strong years for HIFK leading the team in points in 2001–02 with 40 points. The next season he tied for the team lead in points with 47.
Realizing that Zidlicky would not come to the United States to play without a one-way contract and unwilling to give him one, the Rangers traded him, along with Rem Murray and Tomáš Klouček, for Mike Dunham on December 12, 2002 to the Nashville Predators.
Zidlicky joined the Predators in Nashville for the 2003–04 NHL season, which proved to be a very successful season for Zidlicky. He recorded his first NHL point in his NHL debut on October 10, 2003 in a 3–1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He scored his first NHL goal the next day in the second period of a 3–1 loss to the Dallas Stars. He became the first Predator to play all 82 games in his first season in the league (he was not considered a rookie because of his age).
Unfortunately for Zidlicky and Predators fans, he was injured when he was checked in the opening minutes of the first ever Nashville Predators playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings. He suffered a concussion and was unable to return for any more games in the playoff series.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Zidlicky returned to play for HIFK in Helsinki, Finland.
Zidlicky was selected to the bronze medal winning 2006 Czech Republic Olympic hockey squad.
On May 8, 2006, it was announced that the Predators and Zidlicky had agreed on terms for a new contract. The length of the contract will be for four years worth $13.5 million.
On July 1, 2008, Zidlicky was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Ryan Jones and a second round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994–95 | HC Kladno | Czech | 41 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Kladno | Czech | 37 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 74 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 1996–97 | HC Kladno | Czech | 49 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 60 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | HC Kladno | Czech | 51 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 121 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | HC Kladno | Czech | 50 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | HIFK | SM-l | 47 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 66 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 24 | ||
| 2000–01 | HIFK | SM-l | 51 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 146 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2001–02 | HIFK | SM-l | 56 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | HIFK | SM-l | 54 | 10 | 37 | 47 | 79 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 82 | 14 | 39 | 53 | 82 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | HIFK | SM-l | 49 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 91 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 2005–06 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 67 | 12 | 37 | 49 | 82 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 79 | 4 | 26 | 30 | 72 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 79 | 5 | 38 | 43 | 63 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 76 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 78 | 6 | 37 | 43 | 67 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 46 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 507 | 60 | 224 | 284 | 472 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14 | ||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Czech Republic | ||
| Winter Olympics Games | ||
| Bronze | 2006 Turin | Ice hockey |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2005 Vienna | Ice hockey |
| Bronze | 2011 Bratislava | Ice hockey |
Played for the Czech Republic in:
Information in this section may be incomplete.
| Year | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | WC | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | – | |||||
| 2006 | Oly | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 | |||||
| 2007 | WC | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | – | |||||
| 2008 | WC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | |||||
| 2009 | WC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||
| 2010 | Oly | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Senior int'l totals | 43 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 22 | ||||||