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Michal Handzuš

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Michal Handzuš
Handzuš with the Los Angeles Kings in 2009
Born (1977-03-11) 11 March 1977 (age 47)
Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 219 lb (99 kg; 15 st 9 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for HC ’05 Banská Bystrica
HK Poprad
St. Louis Blues
Phoenix Coyotes
Philadelphia Flyers
HKm Zvolen
Chicago Blackhawks
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
National team  Slovakia
NHL draft 101st overall, 1995
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 1995–2017

Michal Handzuš (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmixal ˈɦandzuʂ]; born 11 March 1977) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey centre. Handzuš played for hometown club, HC ’05 Banská Bystrica of the Slovak Extraliga before joining the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1998. Handzuš played for the St. Louis Blues, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won the Stanley Cup with in 2013.

Handzuš represented Slovakia at several international ice hockey tournaments, including the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

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Handzuš played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a youth team from Poprad, Slovakia.[1]

Handzuš, nicknamed "Zeus",[2] was drafted 101st overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues, playing with them for two-and-a-half seasons from 1998–99 to 2000–01. The Blues' line of Pavol Demitra, Ľuboš Bartečko and Handzuš were known as the "Slovak Pack" line.[3] Handzuš finished second in voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL's top defensive-forward, following the 1999–2000 season.[4]

Handzuš was traded on 13 March 2001, along with Ladislav Nagy, Jeff Taffe and two first-round draft picks, to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Keith Tkachuk.[5] Handzuš then spent two seasons with Phoenix.[citation needed]

On 12 June 2002, Handzuš was traded along with Robert Esche to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Brian Boucher and a third-round draft pick.[6] On 5 December 2002, he became only the second player in NHL history to score a penalty shot goal in overtime. In the 2003–04 season, he finished second on the Flyers with 58 points and later signed a three-year contract extension with Philadelphia during the ensuing off-season.[7] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played for the HKm Zvolen, which reached the playoff finals in the Slovak Extraliga.[citation needed]

On 4 August 2006, Handzuš was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Kyle Calder.[8] Only eight games into his season with Chicago, however, Handzuš suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which sidelined him for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.[citation needed]

On 2 July 2007, Handzuš signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings.[9]

On 1 July 2011, Handzuš signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the San Jose Sharks.[10] During the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, on 1 April 2013, Handzuš was traded back to Chicago in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.[11]

Handzuš with the Chicago Blackhawks in October 2013

On 24 June 2013, Handzuš and the Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 3–2 in Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals to win the Stanley Cup. In the following off-season, on 5 July, Handzuš re-signed to a one-year contract to remain with the team. On 19 March 2014, he played in his 1,000th career NHL game.[citation needed]

On 28 May 2014, with the Blackhawks facing elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Handzuš scored a game-winning goal in double-overtime against Los Angeles Kings, the eventual Stanley Cup champions. On 16 June, after the Blackhawks had been eliminated from playoff contention, the team announced that they would not be re-signing Handzuš after the season. He subsequently became an unrestricted free agent on 1 July.[12]

Management career

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Post-playing career, Handzuš joined the leadership of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, but resigned in September 2022 after the organization chose to continue allowing national team members to play in the KHL despite the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine saying, "It is a fundamental value issue for me, and that is why I cannot imagine my further work in this direction of the organization,” in a statement posted to Twitter.[13]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 ŠK Iskra Banská Bystrica SVK U20 40 23 36 59 — — — — — —
1994–95 ŠK Iskra Banská Bystrica SVK-2 22 15 14 29 10 — — — — —
1995–96 Iskra Zlatý Bažant Banská Bystrica SVK U20 6 6 7 13 4 — — — — —
1995–96 Iskra Zlatý Bažant Banská Bystrica SVK 19 3 1 4 8 — — — — —
1996–97 HC ŠKP PS Poprad SVK 44 15 18 33 24 — — — — —
1997–98 Worcester IceCats AHL 69 27 36 63 54 11 2 6 8 10
1998–99 St. Louis Blues NHL 66 4 12 16 30 11 0 2 2 8
1999–00 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 25 28 53 44 7 0 3 3 6
2000–01 St. Louis Blues NHL 36 10 14 24 12 — — — — —
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 10 4 4 8 21 — — — — —
2001–02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 79 15 30 45 34 5 0 0 0 2
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 23 21 44 46 13 2 6 8 6
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 20 38 58 82 18 5 5 10 10
2004–05 HKm Zvolen SVK 33 14 24 38 34 — — — — —
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 73 11 33 44 38 6 0 2 2 2
2006–07 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 8 3 5 8 6 — — — — —
2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 82 7 14 21 45 — — — — —
2008–09 Los Angeles Kings NHL 82 18 24 42 32 — — — — —
2009–10 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 20 22 42 38 6 3 2 5 4
2010–11 Los Angeles Kings NHL 82 12 18 30 20 6 1 1 2 0
2011–12 San Jose Sharks NHL 67 7 17 24 18 2 0 0 0 0
2012–13 HC '05 Banská Bystrica SVK 15 9 10 19 22 — — — — —
2012–13 San Jose Sharks NHL 28 1 1 2 12 — — — — —
2012–13 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 11 1 5 6 4 23 3 8 11 6
2013–14 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 59 4 12 16 16 19 2 1 3 8
2014–15 HC '05 Banská Bystrica SVK 22 7 11 18 16 18 3 9 12 2
2015–16 HC '05 Banská Bystrica SVK 40 12 16 28 36 15 1 6 7 12
2016–17 HC '05 Banská Bystrica SVK 10 1 5 6 27 15 4 6 10 4
SVK totals 183 61 85 146 167 64 13 31 44 24
NHL totals 1,009 185 298 483 498 116 16 30 46 52

Handzuš (left) is knocked down by Swedish centre Henrik Sedin during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Medal record
Representing  Slovakia
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Sweden
Silver medal – second place 2000 Russia
Silver medal – second place 2012 Finland/Sweden

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1995 Slovakia EJC B 5 5 3 8 4
1996 Slovakia WJC 6 0 3 3 2
1997 Slovakia WJC 6 2 4 6 2
2000 Slovakia WC 6 1 4 5 4
2002 Slovakia OG 2 1 0 1 6
2002 Slovakia WC 6 1 4 5 4
2005 Slovakia WC 7 3 0 3 2
2009 Slovakia WC 6 0 4 4 6
2010 Slovakia OG 7 3 3 6 0
2011 Slovakia WC 5 0 2 2 0
2012 Slovakia WC 8 2 5 7 0
2014 Slovakia OG 4 0 2 2 0
Junior totals 17 7 10 17 8
Senior totals 51 11 24 35 22

Awards and achievements

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This is the list of achievements of Michal Handzuš:[14]

Award Year(s)
AHL Player of the Week 5 April 1998
Slovak Extraliga All-Stars Team 2004–05
IIHF World Championship Medal Gold: 2002, Silver: 2000, 2012
Stanley Cup champion 2013

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. ^ Holka, Marek; Takáč, Adam (18 May 2023). "Boris Valábik Poviem to škaredo – naši strelci sa musia prebudiť". Konzervatívny denník Postoj. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  3. ^ "The Olympians: Pavol Demitra – Vancouver Canucks – Features". Canucks.nhl.com. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  4. ^ "1999-00 NHL Awards Voting". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Coyotes Acquire Handzus , Nagy and Taffe from St . Louis for Tkachuk". Phoenix Coyotes. 13 March 2001. Archived from the original on 19 June 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Flyers Acquire Center Michal Handzus and goaltender Robert Esche from Phoenix for Brian Boucher". Philadelphia Flyers. 12 June 2002. Archived from the original on 3 August 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Flyers Re-Sign Michal Handzus to New Contract". Philadelphia Flyers. 6 August 2004. Archived from the original on 8 August 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Flyers Acquire Left Wing Kyle Calder From Chicago". Philadelphia Flyers. 4 August 2006. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Kings ink Nagy, Handzus, Preissing, Calder". The Sports Network. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
  10. ^ "Sharks Sign Handzuš To Two-Year Contract Worth $5 Million". The Sports Network. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Blackhawks acquire Handzus from Sharks for draft pick". The Sports Network. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Blackhawks to Part Ways with Michal Handzus". NBC Chicago. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Former Slovak hockey player Handzuš resigned from the leadership of the hockey association" (in Czech). Deník N. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  14. ^ "EliteProspects – Player info". EliteProspects. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
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