| Tomáš Fleischmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1984 Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb) |
| Position | Left wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team Former teams |
Florida Panthers Washington Capitals Colorado Avalanche |
| National team | Czech Republic |
| NHL Draft | 63rd overall, 2002 Detroit Red Wings |
| Playing career | 2004–present |
Tomáš Fleischmann (born May 16, 1984) is a Czech professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Contents |
Fleischmann originally played three years in his native Czech Republic as a junior with HC Vitkovice, playing in both the Under 18 and Under 20 level. As a prolific scorer, Fleischmann experienced his first taste of professional hockey late in the 2002 season appearing in 8 games out on loan with 3rd division team, HC Novy Jicin.
Fleischmann was subsequently drafted in the second round, 63rd overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. With aspirations for a NHL career, Fleischmann immediately made the transition to North America by joining the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League for the 2002–03 season. In his first season, Fleischmann emerged as a leader on the offense for the Warriors finishing with 71 points in 65 games. Helping Moose Jaw reach the second round of the post season, he led the team with 11 assists and 15 points in 12 games.
In the 2003–04 season, Fleischmann improved his offensive numbers with Moose Jaw to post 30 goals and 75 points in 60 games and earn selection to the WHL East Second All-Star Team. During the campaign on February 27, 2004, Fleischmann's NHL rights were traded along with draft picks by the Red Wings to the Washington Capitals in exchange for fellow countryman Robert Lang.[1]
On June 1, 2006, Fleischmann was signed by the Capitals to a three-year entry level contract. In his first full pro season, he was assigned to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Portland Pirates, for the duration of the 2004–05 season and contributed within a limited role with a modest 19 points in 53 games.
In the following 2005–06 season, Fleischmann started the year out in the AHL with new affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Scoring at a new accelerated pace with 13 points in the first 10 games of the year, he received his first recall to the Capitals on on November 3, 2005.[2] He then made his NHL debut the same day appearing for Washington in a 8-1 defeat against the Philadelphia Flyers.[3] In his third game with the Capitals, he collected his first NHL point, an assist on a goal to Brian Willsie, in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 6.[4] Despite a near month long stay, he was returned to Hershey and under the tutelage of coach Bruce Boudreau progressed to lead the team with 30 goals in just 57 games. In the Calder Cup playoffs, Fleischmann helped carry the Bears to the Championship, leading the league with 21 assists and the team with 32 points in 20 games.[5]
Fleischmann failed to make the Capitals opening night roster out of training camp for the 2006–07 season and scored 51 points in only 45 games in spending the majority of the first half of the season with the Bears. On February 24, 2007, Fleishmann scored his first NHL goal in a 4-2 victory against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.[6] He remained in Washington to play in the teams final 21 games and on March 18, 2007, he recorded the first multi-point game of his career, scoring the first two goals of the game and assisting in two others to be named second star of the game in a 7-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning.[7] In returning to the AHL to help the Bears defend the Calder Cup, Fleischmann again led the team in the playoff scoring with 21 points in 19 games. Although suffering defeat in the finals to the Hamilton Bulldogs, for a second consecutive post-season he led the AHL in assists with 16.
Prior to the 2007–08 season, Fleischmann was re-signed by the Capitals to a one-year contract on October 1, 2007.[8] Re-united with Boudreau early into his first full season in the NHL, he established a role as a skilled utility player within the Capitals and was re-signed to a two year extension during the season on February 13, 2008.[9] He finished to score 10 goals and 30 points in 75 games as the Capitals qualified for the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. Fleischmann made his post-season debut against the opening game against Philadelphia Flyers on April 11, 2008, but played in only two games in the Capitals eventual 7 game defeat in the Quarterfinals to the Flyers.[10]
Fleischmann backed up his previous season appearing in 73 games and improving to score 19 goals and 37 points for the Capitals in 2008–09. He scored his first playoff goal in the opening game of the Quarterfinals 4-3 defeat to the New York Rangers on April 15, 2009.[11] Appearing in all 14 playoff games for Washington he recorded 3 goals and 1 assist.
In returning to the Czech Republic in the off-season it was later discovered that Fleischmann had contracted a blood clot in his leg due to Deep vein thrombosis from the cross-Atlantic flight and would miss the pre-season and the start of the 2009–10 season.[12] With an initial two-game stint with the Hershey Bears on a conditioning assignment, Fleischmann returned to the Capitals having missed the first 10 games.[13] In a break out season with the President Trophy winning Capitals, Fleischmann posted a career high 23 goals and 51 points in 69 games. Fleischmann, however, suffered a disappointing post-season contributing only an assist in 6 games and was scratched for the deciding game of the series in a shock loss to the Montreal Canadiens.[14]
On July 27, 2010, Fleischmann was re-signed as a restricted free agent to a one-year contract with the Capitals.[15] Shifted to Center by Washington to start the 2010–11 season, Fleischmann failed to establish a offensive presence and was demoted as a depth player.[16] On November 30, 2010, Fleischmann was traded by the Capitals to the Colorado Avalanche for Scott Hannan.[17] Returning to Left Wing, he made his Avalanche debut in a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes on December 3, 2010.[18] In his fourth game his scored his first goal with Colorado in a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on December 10, 2010.[19] Five days later Fleischmann notched his first career NHL hat-trick in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.[20] Fleischmann's torrid start with the Avalanche, scoring 21 points in 22 games, came to a sudden halt on January 20, when it was revealed that he was diagnosed with pulmonary emboli and would miss the remainder of the 2010–11 season.[21]
Fleischmann signed a four-year contract worth $18 million with the Florida Panthers on July 1, 2011.[22]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Czech Republic | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| IIHF U18 Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2002 Piešťany | |
Fleischmann first represented the Czech Republic during his final junior year in the Czech Republic when he was named to the 2002 World Under 18 Championship squad. In 8 games in Slovakia, Fleischmann scored 1 goal and 2 assists as the Czech Republic defeated Finland 4-2 to capture the Bronze medal.[23]
While with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Fleischmann earned consecutive selections in the Czech World Junior Championship squad's for 2003 and 2004 respective sixth and fourth place finishes.[24] In 13 combined games, Fleischmann posted 4 goals and two assists.
After completing his first professional season with the Capitals in 2007–08, Fleischmann was added to his first senior Czech squad at the 2008 World Championships in Quebec, Canada.[25] Fleischmann scored his first senior goal in a 5-0 shutout round-robin win over Switzerland on May 8, 2008.[26] He completed the tournament with 5 points in 7 games as the Czech's finished in 5th place.
As a part of the Capitals highest scoring team in 2009–10, Fleishmann was selected mid-season to the Czech team for the 2010 Winter Olympics on December 30, 2009.[27] Fleischmann scored 3 points in 5 games for the Czech Republic en route to a disappointing 7th place finish.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 65 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 36 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 60 | 33 | 42 | 75 | 32 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 53 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 57 | 30 | 33 | 63 | 32 | 20 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 15 | ||
| 2005–06 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 45 | 22 | 29 | 51 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 29 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 75 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 73 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 69 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 22 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 305 | 68 | 91 | 159 | 92 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Czech Republic | WJC18 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2003 | Czech Republic | WJC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2004 | Czech Republic | WJC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 2008 | Czech Republic | WC | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 2010 | Czech Republic | OG | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Junior int'l totals | 21 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | ||
| Senior int'l totals | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | ||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| WHL | ||
| East Second All-Star Team | 2003–04 | [28] |