Libor Polášek
Encyclopedia
Libor Polášek is a retired Czech professional ice hockey
centre
. He is regarded by most Vancouver Canucks
fans, and hockey people in general, as one of the worst NHL first-round draft picks the team ever made.
-like player. Instead, Polasek had difficulty making an impact even at the minor-league level.
He scored a total of just 18 goals over two seasons (1992–1994) playing with the Hamilton Canucks
farm team in the AHL
. In the AHL playoffs in 1993–94, he scored no goals in three games during Hamilton’s four-games first-round loss to Cornwall.
After a goal-less seven-game stint in the ECHL
in 1994–95, he returned to the AHL with the new Canuck affiliate Syracuse Crunch
and scored just two goals in 45 games. In 1995–96, he played 19 games in the Czech league then returned to the Crunch for eight more goal-less games. He returned to Europe and in almost a decade of playing for Czech and Slovak teams he scored just 41 goals from 1996–97 to 2005–06.
, Jason Herter
and Alek Stojanov
) combined -- he never played in an NHL game. In fact, one is hard-pressed to even find statistics on Polasek in many hockey annals.”
The Vancouver Sun’s Iain MacIntyre also wrote in 2001 that if “nuclear winter
” set in due to the Canuck draft record in the 80s, then the team “detonated the H-bomb on themselves in 1992 in the form of Libor Polasek, who soon vanished. Not so the Canucks' reputation for picking more duds than CBS programmers.”
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
centre
Centre (ice hockey)
The centre in ice hockey is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play is the middle of the ice, away from the side boards. Centres have more flexibility in their positioning and are expected to cover more ice surface than any other player...
. He is regarded by most Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
fans, and hockey people in general, as one of the worst NHL first-round draft picks the team ever made.
Playing career
The Canucks hoped that the tall (6’4”) Czech center would develop into a Mark MessierMark Messier
Mark Douglas Messier is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League and current special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He spent a quarter of a century in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver...
-like player. Instead, Polasek had difficulty making an impact even at the minor-league level.
He scored a total of just 18 goals over two seasons (1992–1994) playing with the Hamilton Canucks
Hamilton Canucks
The franchise of the Hamilton Canucks was the top minor league affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks for two seasons in the American Hockey League. Today, the franchise is known as the Syracuse Crunch....
farm team in the AHL
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
. In the AHL playoffs in 1993–94, he scored no goals in three games during Hamilton’s four-games first-round loss to Cornwall.
After a goal-less seven-game stint in the ECHL
ECHL
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
in 1994–95, he returned to the AHL with the new Canuck affiliate Syracuse Crunch
Syracuse Crunch
The Syracuse Crunch are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Syracuse, New York, at the War Memorial at Oncenter...
and scored just two goals in 45 games. In 1995–96, he played 19 games in the Czech league then returned to the Crunch for eight more goal-less games. He returned to Europe and in almost a decade of playing for Czech and Slovak teams he scored just 41 goals from 1996–97 to 2005–06.
Performance reception
According to CNNSI.com’s 2001 profile of Canuck draft busts (Say it ain’t so: Transactions that broke our hearts): “Polasek fared worse than the previous three (first-round busts Dan WoodleyDan Woodley
Dan Woodley is a retired professional ice hockey player who played briefly in the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Canucks during the 1987–88 NHL season.-Playing career:...
, Jason Herter
Jason Herter
Jason Herter is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently a head coach with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League ....
and Alek Stojanov
Alek Stojanov
Alexander Stojanov is a retired professional ice hockey player who spent three seasons in the National Hockey League. He is best known for his trade from Vancouver to Pittsburgh in exchange for Markus Näslund, in what is recognized as one of the most lopsided trades in the history of the NHL...
) combined -- he never played in an NHL game. In fact, one is hard-pressed to even find statistics on Polasek in many hockey annals.”
The Vancouver Sun’s Iain MacIntyre also wrote in 2001 that if “nuclear winter
Nuclear winter
Nuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
” set in due to the Canuck draft record in the 80s, then the team “detonated the H-bomb on themselves in 1992 in the form of Libor Polasek, who soon vanished. Not so the Canucks' reputation for picking more duds than CBS programmers.”
Career statistics
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 Hamilton Canucks AHL 60 7 12 19 34 -- -- -- -- --
1993-94 Hamilton Canucks AHL 76 11 12 23 40 3 0 0 0 0
1994-95 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 7 0 0 0 6 -- -- -- -- --
1994-95 Syracuse Crunch AHL 45 2 8 10 16 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 Syracuse Crunch AHL 8 0 2 2 6 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 Vitkovice HC Czech 19 4 5 9 26 3 0 0 0 2
1996-97 Vitkovice HC Czech 23 4 4 8 66 -- -- -- -- --
1996-97 Slavia Praha HC Czech 12 3 1 4 55 -- -- -- -- --
1997-98 Vitkovice HC Czech 48 10 9 19 56 -- -- -- -- --
1998-99 Vitkovice HC Czech 8 2 1 3 39 -- -- -- -- --
1998-99 Opava HC Czech 35 5 6 11 80 -- -- -- -- --
1999-00 Vitkovice HC Czech 27 7 8 15 42 -- -- -- -- --
2000-01 Vitkovice HC Czech 36 3 6 9 54 -- -- -- -- --
2000-01 Plzen HC Czech 10 2 1 3 6 -- -- -- -- --
2001-02 Zilina HK-SKP Slova 13 0 0 0 10 -- -- -- -- --
2003-04 Zvolen HKm Slova 45 5 11 16 69 17 2 2 4 39
2004-05 Kosice HC Slova 15 0 0 0 22 -- -- -- -- --
2004-05 Dubnica Spartak HC Slova 19 0 1 1 10 -- -- -- -- --
2005-06 Vsetin HC Czech 2 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
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