Mark Streit

Mark Streit
Born	(1977-12-11) December 11, 1977 Englisberg, Switzerland
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	New York Islanders Montreal Canadiens Swiss-A HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Davos ZSC Lions
National team	Switzerland
NHL draft	262nd overall, 2004 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1995–present

Mark Streit (born December 11, 1977) is a Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman, captain and occasional forward for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the captain of both the Islanders and the Swiss national team. He is presently one of seven players in the NHL from Switzerland (the others are his Islander teammate Nino Niederreiter, goaltender Jonas Hiller, defensemen Raphael Diaz, Luca Sbisa, Yannick Weber and Roman Josi). Streit is one of the few swingmen in the NHL, able to play both as a defenceman and as a forward. He was featured on the front cover of the Swiss covers of the NHL series of hockey games, from NHL 08 to NHL 11 and was replaced by Jonas Hiller for NHL 12.

Playing career

Streit began his career in the Swiss Nationalliga A with HC Fribourg-Gottéron in 1995–96 as an 18-year old. The following year, he transferred to HC Davos and improved to a 25-point campaign in 44 games in 1998–99, his third season with the team.

Garnering attention from North America, but undrafted by an NHL team, he bounced around the minor leagues in 1999–00, playing the majority of the season with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.

Streit returned to the Nationalliga and spent five seasons with ZSC Lions after his brief North American stint. He helped the Lions to a Swiss championship in 2001, as well as back-to-back IIHF Continental Cups in 2001 and 2002. After a 12-goal, 36-point season in 48 games in 2003–04, Streit was drafted in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 262nd overall, by the Montreal Canadiens at 26 years old (players are typically drafted at the age of 18).

As the 2004-05 NHL season was lost to a lockout, Streit remained with the Lions for one last season and posted a Swiss career high 14 goals, 29 assists and 43 points in 44 games. In 2005–06, Streit made his NHL debut with the Canadiens, appearing in 48 games and recording 11 points. On March 16, 2006, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Streit was joined by the only two other Swiss players playing in the NHL at the time, Montreal goalie David Aebischer and Carolina goalie Martin Gerber — a historic game for Swiss hockey.

Streit continued to make strides the following season, improving to 36 points in 76 games before emerging as an elite NHL defenceman in his third season with Montreal. In 2007–08, he finished third in league scoring among defencemen (behind Nicklas Lidström and Sergei Gonchar) with 62 points in 81 games. Streit was made the Canadiens' nomination for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded for perseverance and dedication to hockey; he did not, however, make the final cut.

Streit playing for the New York Islanders

Coming off a breakout campaign, Streit became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2008, and signed a 5-year, $20.5 million contract with the New York Islanders. Upon signing with the Islanders, Streit became the second highest paid Swiss sportsman to Roger Federer, earning more than top national soccer players. During his first season with the Islanders, he was selected to appear in his first NHL All-Star Game in 2009 as a reserve. In his first season with the team, Streit led the Islanders in scoring with 56 points, becoming only the second defenseman to lead his team in scoring since the lockout. The first was Ľubomír Višňovský, who led the Los Angeles Kings with 67 points in 2005–06.

On September 27, 2010 Streit tore his shoulder labrum and rotator cuff after being checked into the boards by teammate Matt Moulson during a scrimmage. He was sidelined for the entire 2010-11 season.

Streit became the first Swiss-born team captain in NHL history, when the Islanders appointed him to the position in September, 2011.

International play

Streit made his international debut at the 1995 European Junior Championships, then appeared in his first of two World Junior Championships in 1996. He scored one goal in five games as Switzerland finished ninth. In 1997, he scored two goals and Switzerland improved to seventh.

In 1998, Streit appeared in his first of ten consecutive World Championships. Playing as the host nation, Switzerland finished a surprising fourth, falling to the Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game. He scored an international career-best seven points in seven games in 2005, as Switzerland advanced to the quarter-finals, losing to Sweden 2-1.

Streit competed in his first Winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City. He scored two points in four preliminary games as Switzerland finished 11th.

As Streit was named team captain at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Switzerland improved to sixth, topping international giants Czech Republic and Canada in their preliminary games. Streit scored the game winning goal against the Czechs to defeat them 3-2 in the Swiss' second round-robin game, then assisted on the second goal of a 2-0 upset against Canada two days later. Following the stunning Swiss victory over Canada, an incredulous Streit admitted, "I never thought we could do that." In the quarter-finals, Streit scored in the first period to tie the game 1-1, but the Swiss were overpowered by Sweden 6-2.

Career statistics

Streit wears #2 on his jersey while playing for the Islanders

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	Swiss-A		34	2	2	4	6		4	0	0	0	2
1996–97	HC Davos	Swiss-A		46	2	9	11	18		6	0	0	0	0
1997–98	HC Davos	Swiss-A		38	4	10	14	4		18	1	5	6	20
1998–99	HC Davos	Swiss-A		44	7	18	25	42		6	3	3	6	8
1999–00	Tallahassee Tiger Sharks	ECHL		14	0	5	5	16		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Utah Grizzlies	IHL		1	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Springfield Falcons	AHL		43	3	12	15	18		5	0	0	0	2
2000–01	ZSC Lions Zurich	Swiss-A		44	5	11	16	48		16	2	5	7	37
2001–02	ZSC Lions Zurich	Swiss-A		28	7	16	23	36		14	0	6	6	10
2002–03	ZSC Lions Zurich	Swiss-A		37	4	20	24	62		12	1	7	8	2
2003–04	ZSC Lions Zurich	Swiss-A		48	12	24	36	78		13	5	2	7	14
2004–05	ZSC Lions Zurich	Swiss-A		44	14	29	43	46		15	4	11	15	20
2005–06	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		48	2	9	11	28		1	0	0	0	0
2006–07	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		76	10	26	36	14		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		81	13	49	62	28		11	1	3	4	8
2008–09	New York Islanders	NHL		74	16	40	56	62		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	New York Islanders	NHL		82	11	38	49	48		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				361	52	162	214	180		12	1	3	4	8

International

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995	Switzerland	EJC	5	1	2	3	6
1996	Switzerland	WJC	5	1	0	1	4
1997	Switzerland	WJC	6	2	0	2	31
1998	Switzerland	WC	9	0	0	0	2
1999	Switzerland	WC	6	4	0	4	2
2000	Switzerland	WC	7	0	1	1	4
2001	Switzerland	WC	6	0	3	3	2
2002	Switzerland	WC	6	0	3	3	4
2003	Switzerland	WC	7	0	4	4	10
2004	Switzerland	WC	7	1	1	2	2
2005	Switzerland	WC	7	1	6	7	4
2006	Switzerland	Oly	6	2	1	3	6
2006	Switzerland	WC	6	0	3	3	6
2007	Switzerland	WC	7	1	3	4	6
2009	Switzerland	WC	6	1	4	5	8
2010	Switzerland	Oly	5	0	3	3	0
Junior int'l totals			11	3	0	3	35
Senior int'l totals			85	10	32	42	56

• All statistics taken from NHL.com

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External links

• Mark Streit career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database