Phil Oreskovic

Phil Oreskovic
Born January 26, 1987
North York, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
ECHL team
Former teams 		Brampton Beast
Toronto Maple Leafs
Nottingham Panthers
NHL Draft 82nd overall, 2005
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 2007–present

Phil Oreskovic (pronounced Or-esh-ko-vich; born January 26, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Brampton Beast of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).

Phil’s father is Croatian that emigrated to Canada in 1962.[1] Phil Oreskovic fluently speaks Croatian.[2]

Playing career

Oreskovic was drafted 82nd overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil played in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion and the Owen Sound Attack before turning professional at the end of the 2006–07 season with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

On June 1, 2007, Oreskovic was signed by the Maple Leafs to a three-year entry level contract.[3] He then started out the 2007–08 season with Columbia Inferno of the ECHL before making his way up to the Leafs main affiliate the Marlies.

Oreskovic started the 2008–09 season with the Marlies before being recalled by the Maple Leafs on March 9, 2009.[4] Phil made his NHL debut with the Leafs on the same day, a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, and became the 400th ECHL player to reach the NHL.[5] On March 24, 2009, Oreskovic scored his first NHL goal against José Théodore of the Washington Capitals in a 3-2 victory.[6]

He spent the 2009-10 season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies playing a career high 74 games, while scoring 2 goals and getting 7 assists. In the 2010 offseason, Oreskovic was not offered a contract extension by the Toronto Maple Leafs, thus being acquired as a free agent by the Washington Capitals. He signed a professional tryout contract (PTO) in September 2010 and is currently playing for the Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears.

Upon joining the Bears organization, Bears forward Johann Kroll was already wearing the uniform #4 and then goaltender Semyon Varlamov was already wearing the uniform #40 (at the time), therefore Oreskovic chose to wear the uniform #32. Oreskovic wore the uniform #4 with the Brampton Battalion, Owen Sound Attack, Columbia Inferno and the Toronto Marlies, and wore the uniform #40 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On August 6, 2013, Oreskovic re-signed to a one-year contract for a second season with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye.[7]

After a season abroad in the Elite Ice Hockey League with the Nottingham Panthers, Oreskovic returned to Canada, signing a one-year contract with the Brampton Beast of the CHL on September 4, 2014.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Brampton Battalion OHL 66 0 7 7 64 12 0 2 2 16
2004–05 Brampton Battalion OHL 61 1 6 7 147 6 0 0 0 4
2005–06 Brampton Battalion OHL 65 3 9 12 202 11 0 0 0 34
2006–07 Brampton Battalion OHL 36 2 12 14 113 — — — — —
2006–07 Owen Sound Attack OHL 26 1 7 8 66 4 0 0 0 2
2006–07 Toronto Marlies AHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2007–08 Columbia Inferno ECHL 13 0 4 4 19 — — — — —
2007–08 Toronto Marlies AHL 54 1 9 10 68 7 0 1 1 11
2008–09 Toronto Marlies AHL 65 1 10 11 103 6 0 0 0 12
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 1 1 2 21 — — — — —
2009–10 Toronto Marlies AHL 74 2 7 9 142 — — — — —
2010–11 Hershey Bears AHL 14 0 0 0 22 1 0 0 0 0
2011–12 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 56 1 5 6 110 9 0 2 2 11
2011–12 Hershey Bears AHL 6 0 1 1 9 — — — — —
2012–13 Toledo Walleye ECHL 68 1 13 14 121 6 0 0 0 14
2013–14 Toledo Walleye ECHL 10 0 0 0 15 — — — — —
2013–14 Nottingham Panthers EIHL 24 0 3 3 27 2 0 0 0 4
NHL totals 10 1 1 2 21 — — — — —

Personal

Oreskovic is a Croatian Canadian.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  2. ↑ Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  3. ↑ "Maple Leafs sign Phil Oreskovic". mapleleafs.nhl.com. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  4. ↑ "Stralman, Oreskovic called up from Marlies". mapleleafs.nhl.com. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  5. ↑ "Oreskovic becomes the 400th ECHL player to reach the NHL". ECHL.com. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  6. ↑ "CuJo finishes win for Leafs after Gerber gets ejected for pushing ref". cbssports.com. 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  7. ↑ "Oreskovic returns to Toledo blueline". ECHL. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  8. ↑ "Beast sign Phil Oreskovic and Stephon Thorne". Brampton Beast. 2014-09-14. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  9. ↑ Maple Leafs Hot Stove Getting to Know You: Phil Oreskovic
  10. ↑ Eliteprospects

External links