Branislav Mezei

Branislav Mezei
Born	(1980-10-08) October 8, 1980 Nitra, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight	236 lb (107 kg; 16 st 12 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
Slovak team Former teams	HK Nitra New York Islanders Florida Panthers HC Oceláři Třinec HK Dukla Trenčín Barys Astana HC Plzen Espoo Blues HC Pardubice Lev Poprad Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg HC Vityaz Podolsk KHL Medveščak Zagreb
National team	Slovakia
NHL draft	10th overall, 1999 New York Islanders
Playing career	2000–present

Branislav Mezei (born October 8, 1980) is a Slovak professional ice hockey player. Mezei is a defenceman currently with HK Nitra of the Slovak Extraliga. Mezei has previous played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers. Mezei also played for Barys Astana and HC Plzen of the KHL, and Espoo Blues of the SM-liiga. Mezei was a first-round pick of the Islanders in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, tenth overall.

Playing career

Mezei moved to Canada to play junior hockey with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League. Mezei played three seasons with the Bulls from 1997 until 2000. After his second season, he was drafted tenth-overall by the New York Islanders. He joined the Islanders organization in 2000. Mezei played two seasons in the Islanders organization, including 66 games with the Islanders. He recorded his first NHL assist against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 23, 2000, and he scored his first NHL goal on March 31, 2001, against the Boston Bruins. In July 2002, he was traded to the Florida Panthers. He was a member of the Panthers from 2002 until 2008, playing a further 178 games primarily in a defensive role. He tallied 5 goals and 19 assists in his NHL career.

During the 2004–05 lockout, Mezei played for Trinec Ocelari HC and HK Dukla Trenčín. In 2008, Mezei moved to Europe to play with Barys Astana of the KHL. He has since played for Espoo Blues, HC Plzen, HC Pardubice and Lev Poprad.

On August 31, 2014, Mezei remained in the KHL, signing with his fourth club, in Croatian based KHL Medveščak Zagreb on a one-year deal. After just 8 games with the Croatian club, Mezei was released mutually from his contract in order to return to his native Slovakia with HK Nitra on October 24, 2014.

International play

He has also played with the Slovak national ice hockey team in Ice Hockey World Championships in 2001, 2004 and 2008.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	AC/HC Nitra	SVK U20		45	5	10	15	86		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	AC/HC Nitra	SVK U20		52	7	22	29	114		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Belleville Bulls	OHL		53	3	5	8	58		8	0	2	2	8
1998–99	Belleville Bulls	OHL		60	5	18	23	90		18	0	4	4	29
1999–2000	Belleville Bulls	OHL		58	7	21	28	99		6	0	3	3	10
2000–01	New York Islanders	NHL		42	1	4	5	53		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL		20	0	3	3	28		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	AHL		59	1	9	10	137		20	0	1	1	48
2001–02	New York Islanders	NHL		24	0	2	2	12		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Florida Panthers	NHL		11	2	0	2	10		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	San Antonio Rampage	AHL		1	0	0	0	0		3	0	0	0	0
2003–04	Florida Panthers	NHL		45	0	7	7	80		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	HC Oceláři Třinec	ELH		41	1	2	3	68		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	HK Dukla Trenčín	SVK		10	1	1	2	16		12	1	2	3	38
2005–06	Florida Panthers	NHL		16	0	1	1	37		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Florida Panthers	NHL		45	0	3	3	55		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Florida Panthers	NHL		57	2	2	4	64		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Barys Astana	KHL		56	5	5	10	151		3	0	1	1	6
2009–10	HC Plzeň 1929	ELH		19	0	0	0	61		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Espoo Blues	SM-l		38	0	4	4	120		3	1	2	3	4
2010–11	HC Eaton Pardubice	ELH		51	6	9	15	118		9	0	1	1	16
2011–12	HC Lev Poprad	KHL		53	3	11	14	117		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	KHL		51	8	13	21	89		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	HC Vityaz	KHL		47	4	4	8	108		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	KHL Medveščak Zagreb	KHL		8	0	0	0	14		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	HK Nitra	SVK		40	4	10	14	65		12	0	2	2	27
2015–16	HK Nitra	SVK		43	4	7	11	54		16	2	1	3	37
2016–17	HK Nitra	SVK		56	5	25	30	83		13	3	4	7	37
2017–18	HK Nitra	SVK		51	5	23	28	112		8	3	7	10	14
2018–19	HK Nitra	SVK		57	1	12	13	77		18	1	3	4	26
2019–20	HK Nitra	SVK		55	3	9	12	68		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				240	5	19	24	311		—	—	—	—	—
KHL totals				215	20	33	53	479		3	0	1	1	6
SVK totals				312	23	87	110	475		79	10	19	29	179

International

Medal record
Representing Slovakia
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
	1999 Manitoba

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1999	Slovakia	WJC			6	0	0	0	8
2000	Slovakia	WJC	9th		7	1	0	1	6
2001	Slovakia	WC	7th		6	0	0	0	2
2004	Slovakia	WCH	7th		2	0	0	0	0
2004	Slovakia	WC	4th		9	0	0	0	6
2008	Slovakia	WC	13th		5	0	0	0	8
2013	Slovakia	WC	8th		7	0	4	4	6
Junior totals					13	1	0	1	14
Senior totals					29	0	4	4	22

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database