Ľubomír Vaic

Ľubomír Vaic (born 6 March 1977 in Spišská Nová Ves, Czechoslovakia) is a professional ice hockey player, who briefly played in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks and currently plays for HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak hockey league.

Drafted by the Canucks 227th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Vaic came to North America a year later. Small, quick, and feisty, he scored 27 points in 50 games for the Syracuse Crunch, Vancouver's AHL affiliate. He also earned a 5-game callup to the Canucks, where he scored his first (and to this date, only) NHL goal, and added an assist.

Vaic returned to Slovakia for another year before returning to the Canucks organization for the 1999–2000 season. However, he would find himself in much the same situation, scoring 42 points in 63 games for Syracuse, and being held pointless in 4 NHL games in Vancouver. Following the season, he was released by the Canucks, who considered him too small to be a significant NHL contributor.

Returning to Europe, Vaic became something of a nomad, appearing with five clubs in five different major European leagues over the next five seasons. He was, however, a consistent offensive performer, and helped Metallurg Magnitogorsk to the Russian league championship in 2003–04. He would finally find a long-term home in the Czech Extraliga, after signing with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec in 2004. In 2005–06, he finished 2nd in scoring in the Extraliga, and helped Liberec to the league championship. At the end of the 2006-07 season he joined HC Sparta Prague.

Vaic has appeared in 9 NHL games, recording a goal and an assist for two points. He has also represented Slovakia at three World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003.

External links

• Ľubomír Vaic's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database