yesterday 22:15
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One of the best hockey players in the history of Slovakia, Marián Gáborík, officially ended his career on Thursday. How did it go and what did it achieve during it?
DUKLA TRENČÍN
As a native of Trenčín, he grew up playing hockey in the local Dukla. He played two full years in the extra league before going overseas.
YOUTH REPRESENTATIONS
He never won a medal in the men’s national team, but he has two of the youth medals. He won both in the 1998/99 season. At that time, the Slovak national team took bronze at both the U18 and U20 World Championships. At the U18 World Championships, he was declared the best striker and won the Canadian scoring with 11 points (3 + 8).
DRAFT
He entered the NHL in 2000 with a draft, when he was chosen from third place by Minnesota Wild, for whom he was historically the first selected player in the draft. Gáborík is also the highest drafted Slovak in history.
FIRST GOAL
He achieved his first accurate hit in his first game, scoring into the Anaheim net on October 6, 2000, which was also the very first goal in Minnesota’s history. He finished his premiere season overseas with 36 points (18 + 18).
SECOND SEASON IN THE NHL
He starred in the first, but did not fully unpack it until the second year overseas. He scored 67 points, scored 30 goals and twice managed to reach the hat-trick. He also played in the Match of the Stars, in which he won the competition for the fastest skater with a time of 13,713 seconds.
FIRST PLAY-OFF
He also reached the 30 goal mark and a total of 65 points in the third season in the Minnesota jersey. He significantly helped his club to its first-ever participation in the NHL playoffs, where they ended up in the conference finals.
CONTRACT PROBLEMS
He started his fourth season overseas with a delay. His novice contract expired and he could not agree on a new one with the club, the salary conditions were a problem. Until they agreed, he played 13 matches for Dukla Trenčín (10 + 3). After returning to the NHL, he and Wilds failed to make it to the playoffs.
SEASON IN SLOVAKIA
The year 2004/05 is probably remembered by all hockey fans living at the time. There was a lockout in the NHL, so we saw stars on our rinks like Šatan and Višňovský in Slovan or Gáborík, Hossa and Demita in Trenčín. It was these two clubs that met in the legendary semifinal, which Slovan won 4: 3 and is still talked about for the referees’ performances.
MATCH POINT
The next two seasons 05/06 and 06/07 he did well in points, but he did not fight with the team further than in the 1st round of the playoffs. He was also slowed down by an injury, for which he missed several duels. In the 05/06 season he scored 66 points in 65 matches and another 57 in 48 matches.
STAR NIGHT
He experienced the most famous and best night in the NHL on December 20, 2007. In the match against the New York Rangers, he scored five goals and added one assist, Minnesota won 6: 3. He managed to be the first player since 1996. He even finished the 07/08 season as the team captain and was his best point, 83 points (42 + 41) in 77 matches.
In the same season, his legendary collision with Dominik Hašek took place.
TEAM CHANGE
He entered the 08/09 season with the expiration of his contract with Minnesota. The club wanted to extend it, but they did not agree. After a season in which he played only 17 matches due to injury, he became a free agent. His next steps were to Madison Square Garden for the New York Rangers.
BEGINNINGS IN RANGERS
He recorded his career point maximum in the first season in New York. With 42 goals and 44 assists, he had 86 points, which he had never beaten in his career. However, the Rangers did not make it to the playoffs.
In the 10/11 season, he played only 62 duels in the basic part due to injuries, but he also played in the playoffs, the Rangers got into it thanks to the victory in the last match of the basic part. However, they dropped out in the 1st round. During the year he experienced another great night, on January 19 he contributed four goals to the 7-0 victory over Toronto.
He played the entire, full portion of 82 matches in the 11/12 season, in which he scored 76 points (41 + 35). The team was also successful, the Rangers fought their way to the finals of the conference, where they were not enough for the New Jersey Devils.
In the second round of the playoffs, he finished one of the longest matches of the elimination fights with a goal in the third overtime.
TRANSFERS
In the 12/13 season, which began later due to a lockout, he failed as expected and was replaced by the Rangers in the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, he did not warm up there for a long time, he was exchanged to the Los Angeles Kings next year just before the start of the playoffs.
STANLEY CUP
He fought his way through LA until the Stanley Cup final, winning all three series 4: 3, where he ran into his former NY Rangers club. They won the 4: 1 series dominantly. Marián Gáborík thus won the coveted Stanley Cup, which he helped with 22 points (14 + 8) in 26 duels.
END OF CAREER
He stayed with Kings for the next three years, but he was not so successful in points. In 2018, he was replaced in Ottawa, for which, however, he played only 16 duels. He hasn’t played since he had back problems. In the last year of the contract, she was exchanged for Tampa Bay. His contract flowed and he officially ended his career only now.
SUCCESSES WITH THE REPRESENTATION AVOIDED HIM
Marián Gáborík represented Slovakia at six World Championships and two Olympics, but he did not manage to win a medal. Twice, however, he was extremely close to her. At the 2004 World Cup, Slovakia lost the match for 3rd place to the USA. The duel at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver is especially memorable, when the Slovaks led 3: 1 in the bronze duel over Finland after the second period, but lost 5: 3.
However, he scored several memorable goals.
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