Radek Bonk

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Radek Bonk
Born (1976-01-09) January 9, 1976
Krnov, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shoots Left
Czech team
Former teams
Oceláři Třinec
Zlín ZPS
Pardubice
NHL
Ottawa Senators
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
KHL
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
National team  Czech Republic
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 1994
Ottawa Senators
Playing career 1993present

Radek Bonk (born January 9, 1976) is a Czech professional ice hockey player currently playing for Oceláři Třinec of the Czech Extraliga.

Playing career

Bonk was born in Czechoslovakia and began his hockey career playing for Slezan Opava in the Junior Czech league and Zlín in the Czech Extraliga.[1] He moved to North America in 1993 with a goal of playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) and was signed by the International Hockey League (IHL)'s Las Vegas Thunder, with whom he spent the 1993–94 season as a 17-year-old. Bonk was an immediate sensation in the IHL and by the end of his first season of the North American brand of hockey he had registered 42 goals and 45 assists for 87 points in 76 games. NHL scouts took notice, and Bonk found himself at or near the top of all the top prospects lists for the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Given his young age (17), size, and ability to quickly adapt to the more physical style of hockey in North America, Bonk became a "can't miss" prospect.

Bonk was drafted third overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, the first forward selected. He returned to Las Vegas for the first half of the 1994–95 season while the NHL was shut down by the owners' lockout[2] and registered 20 points in 33 games. His debut NHL season of 1994–95 was somewhat disappointing, and Bonk scored only 3 goals and 11 points in 42 games. His progress took some seasoning in his first five years of NHL hockey before he emerged as one of the league's most complete forwards by 1999–2000.[2] He went on to play for the Senators for 10 seasons, eventually becoming the team’s #1 center under the tutelage of head coach Jacques Martin.

Bonk originally wore number 76 as a member of the Thunder and in his first two seasons in Ottawa, but switched to number 14 after new general manager Pierre Gauthier implemented a team rule prohibiting players from wearing "vanity numbers" (that is, numbers higher than the goaltenders). Thus, teammate Alexandre Daigle also switched to number 9 from his traditional 91.

A skilled player, Bonk was often criticized in the Ottawa media for his lack of aggression, despite his size. On the day of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a third round draft pick. The same day, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens along with Cristobal Huet for Mathieu Garon and a third round selection in the 2004 draft. His most productive season points-wise was the 2001–02 NHL season when he produced 70 points for the Ottawa Senators.

On July 2, 2007, Bonk signed as a free agent with the Nashville Predators to a two-year contract.[3]

On July 22, 2009, after 969 games in the NHL it was announced that Bonk agreed to a one-year contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to continue his career in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[4] After only seven games into the 2009–10 season, Bonk left Yaroslavl to return the Czech Republic with Oceláři Třinec in the Czech Extraliga on October 8, 2009.[5] Radek posted 17 points in 39 games for the season with Oceláři to earn a two-year contract extension on May 2, 2010.[6]

Personal

Bonk is married to a Canadian, Jill Sarcen, whom he met in Ottawa while a member of the Senators. They have sons — Oliver Jaroslav and Cameron, and daughters Kennedy Grace and Maya.

Bonk is an uncle of Patrik Bartošák, who was drafted 146th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1992–93Zlín ZPSCZE30551010
1993–94Las Vegas ThunderIHL76424587208512310
1994–95Las Vegas ThunderIHL337132062
1994–95Ottawa SenatorsNHL42381128
1994–95Prince Edward Island SenatorsAHL10000
1995–96Ottawa SenatorsNHL7616193536
1996–97Ottawa SenatorsNHL53513181470114
1997–98Ottawa SenatorsNHL6579161650002
1998–99Ottawa SenatorsNHL811616324840006
1999–00 PardubiceCZE31014
1999–00Ottawa SenatorsNHL802337605360008
2000–01Ottawa SenatorsNHL742336595220002
2001–02Ottawa SenatorsNHL82254570521237106
2002–03Ottawa SenatorsNHL702232543618651110
2003–04Ottawa SenatorsNHL661232446670220
2004–05Oceláři TřinecCZE276101644
2004–05Zlín ZPSCZE6325460228
2005–06Montreal CanadiensNHL61615215262022
2006–07Montreal CanadiensNHL7413102354
2007–08Nashville PredatorsNHL791415294061012
2008–09Nashville PredatorsNHL669162534
2009–10Lokomotiv YaroslavlKHL70226
2009–10Oceláři TřinecCZE39512176052354
2010–11Oceláři TřinecCZE501425396818671324
2011–12Oceláři TřinecCZE481114254450110
2012–13Oceláři TřinecCZE391426403013461010
NHL totals9691943034975817312152742
Medal record
Ice hockey
Competitor for  Czech Republic
World Championships
Gold 1996 Vienna
Competitor for  Czechoslovakia
World Junior Championships
Bronze 1993 Gävle

International

Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM
1993 Czechoslovakia WJC 6 4 2 6 6
1996 Czech Republic WCH 3 1 0 1 0
1996 Czech Republic WC 8 2 2 4 14
Junior int'l totals 6 4 2 6 6
Senior int'l totals 11 3 2 5 14

Transactions

References

  1. "Radek Bonk -hockeydraft.ca". hockeydraft.ca. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "legendsofhockey.net - Radek Bonk". legendsofhockey.net. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
  3. "Predators sign free agents Bonk, de Vries". predators.nhl.com. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2009-02-10. 
  4. "Bonk finalised for Lokomotiv" (in Swedish). hockeysverige.se. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  5. "Radek Bonk reinforces the Steelworkers" (in Czech). Oceláři Třinec. 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  6. "Bonk receives new contract" (in Czech). Oceláři Třinec. 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 

External links

Preceded by
Alexandre Daigle
Ottawa Senators first round draft pick
1994
Succeeded by
Bryan Berard
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