Jan Muršak

Jan Muršak
Born January 20, 1988
Maribor, Slovenia, Yugoslavia
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Right
KHL team
Former teams
HC CSKA Moscow
HDK Maribor
HDD Olimpija Ljubljana
Detroit Red Wings
Amur Khabarovsk
National team  Slovenia
NHL Draft 182nd overall, 2006
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 2004present
Website JanMursak.com

Jan Muršak[1] (born January 20, 1988) is a professional Slovenian ice hockey forward currently playing for CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Muršak first played hockey in Slovenia as a member of HDK Maribor before he left to spend one season in the Czech junior league. He was then selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and moved to the major junior Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played for two teams, the Saginaw Spirit and Belleville Bulls. After finishing his junior career Muršak then joined the Red Wings American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2008.

Playing career

European career and juniors

Muršak developed his skills in his hometown ice hockey club HDK Maribor where he played until the age of 17. He then transferred to Czech club HC Ceské Budejovice for which he played for a season in CZE-U20 youth development league.

In 2006 he was selected by the Detroit Red Wings as the 182nd overall draft pick (6th round). During the same year Muršak was drafted by the Saginaw Spirit in 1st Round of the 2006 CHL Import Draft, 33rd overall. He had a successful first season for Saginaw which earned him a playoff call up for the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings. In his second OHL season, Muršak was traded from the Saginaw Spirit, to the Belleville Bulls where he stayed until the end of the season, before moving on to play regularly for Grand Rapids in the AHL.

Detroit Red Wings

Muršak signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in April 2007. Since his draft in 2006 he has made appearances for the Red Wings during training camps. On December 26, 2010 it was announced by Detroit that Muršak was called up to the team to fill in after an ankle injury of Danny Cleary. He made his NHL career debut on December 28, 2010 in a game against the Colorado Avalanche, thus becoming the second Slovenian, after Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, to play in the NHL.[2] Muršak scored his first NHL goal on January 10, 2011, also in a game against the Avalanche against Peter Budaj. On 17 February 2011, Muršak signed a new two-year contract with the Red Wings.[3]

Due to the 2012 NHL lockout, Muršak signed a temporary contract with the Slovenian hockey team HDD Olimpija Ljubljana of the EBEL league.[4] In 30 games with Olimpija, he excelled with 48 points, before returning for the start of the shortened 2012–13 season with the Red Wings. On opening night, he was again setback by injury, after hurting his collarbone in a 6–0 defeat against the St. Louis Blues. On his return to health, and with limited opportunity with the Red Wings, Muršak was placed on waivers on February 22, 2013.[5] He subsequently moved to Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.[6]

International play

Muršak was chosen to compete on the Slovenia national junior team in the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (Division I) in Latvia, where he scored one goal and two assists and was named the best forward of the tournament.[7] He made his debut for the Slovenian senior team at the 2010 Division I Championships, held in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. In 2014, Muršak represented Slovenia at their first appearance at the Olympics.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 HDK Maribor U18 Slov-U18 13 27 18 45 14
2003–04 HDK Maribor U18 Slov-U18 22 27 17 44 14
2003–04 HDK Marior Jr. Slov Jr. 19 8 8 16 37
2003–04 HDK Maribor Slov 14 3 3 6 16
2004–05 HDK Maribor Jr. Slov Jr. 19 17 16 33 39
2004–05 HDK Maribor Slov 24 16 29 45 10
2005–06 HC Ceské Budejovice CZE-U20 43 15 15 30 32 5 0 2 2 2
2006–07 Saginaw Spirit OHL 62 27 53 80 50 6 1 2 3 10
2006–07 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 7 0 2 2 2
2007–08 Saginaw Spirit OHL 26 6 20 26 15
2007–08 Belleville Bulls OHL 31 11 27 38 8 21 9 15 24 10
2008–09 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 51 2 7 9 25 6 0 1 1 0
2009–10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 79 24 18 42 46
2010–11 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 54 13 22 35 35
2010–11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 19 1 0 1 4
2011–12 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 6 0 1 1 2
2011–12 Detroit Red Wings NHL 25 1 2 3 0
2012–13 HDD Olimpija Ljubljana EBEL 30 19 29 48 9
2012–13 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 23 4 12 16 12 23 11 6 17 23
2012–13 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 0 0 4
2013–14 Amur Khabarovsk KHL 36 12 9 21 28
2013–14 CSKA Moscow KHL 13 0 4 4 27 4 0 1 1 7
2014–15 CSKA Moscow KHL 53 17 26 43 20 16 3 7 10 2
NHL totals 46 2 2 4 8
KHL totals 102 29 39 68 75 20 3 8 11 9

International

Year Team Comp   GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Slovenia U18 (Div I) 5 1 2 3 4
2006 Slovenia U18 (Div I) 5 1 1 2 8
2006 Slovenia WJC (Div I) 5 3 2 5 2
2007 Slovenia WJC (Div I) 5 3 2 5 10
2008 Slovenia WJC (Div I) 5 1 2 3 0
2010 Slovenia WC (Div I) 5 5 2 7 2
2014 Slovenia Oly 5 1 2 3 4
2014 Slovenia WC (Div IA) 5 1 2 3 2
Junior totals 25 9 9 18 24
Senior totals 15 7 6 13 8

Awards

International

Award Year
Best Forward (IIHF U20 Championships Division IB) 2008

OHL

Award Year
Second All-Rookie Team 2006–07

References

  1. "Jan Mursak selects NHL". SloveniaTimes.com. 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  2. Grand Rapids Griffins (2010-12-27). "Cleary out, Mursak to make NHL debut". DetroitRedWings.com. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  3. Ansar Khan (2011-02-17). "Red Wings sign Jan Mursak to two-year deal". mlive.com. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  4. "A Red Wing for Olimpija" (in German). Austrian Hockey League. 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  5. "Jan Mursak wishes he'd have gotten better opportunity with Red Wings, but knows it's time to move on". mlive.com. 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  6. Kimelman, Adam. "Dark horses at Olympics to benefit from NHL talent". NHL.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  7. IIHF (2007-12-18). "Best Players Selected by the Directorate" (PDF). IIHF.com. Retrieved 2010-12-27.

External links

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