Eliteprospects
Czechia Martin Straka
#28 HC Plzeň / Czechia - 13/14
1-time Olympic Gold Medal 1
1-time World Championship Gold Medal 1
1-time U20 WJC Bronze Medal 1
1-time Olympic Bronze Medal 1
1-time U18 EJC Bronze Medal 1
1-time Czech Extraliga Champion 1
1-time Czech Extraliga Player of the Year 1
1-time Czech Hockey Hall of Fame 1
Date of Birth
Sep 03, 1972
Position
C
Age
52
Height
5'9" / 176 cm
Place of Birth
Plzen, CZE
Weight
174 lbs / 79 kg
Nation
Czechia
Shoots
L
Youth Team
HC Plzen
Status
Retired
Drafted
1992 round 1 #19 overall by Pittsburgh Penguins

Straka began his NHL career with Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and went from mere survivor to scoring star. After netting 64 points in his first year, he went into serious decline, as he bounced around three teams in two seasons. But when he returned to Penguins in 1997, he maximized his chances and impressively rebounded into a key figure and Penguins all-star.

Though only five feet nine, Straka became a giant performer. He would excel where it counted most-scoring important goals in the playoffs. Straka was a clever and intelligent player and great leader. He had a style that was somewhat reckless, but he managed to avoid getting battered by the bigger bodies in the NHL for the most part and became one of the Penguins' most prolific players of all time. After leaving NHL in 2008, he came back to Czech republic and served six more seasons as the captain of HC Plzen, the team where he was also a franchise owner and general manager. In 2013 he celebrated the Czech title. After retiring, he quickly moved into a coaching position. figure and Penguins all-star.

Straka enjoyed success on international ice as well, winning a gold medal at the Nagano Olympic games (1998), bronze medal at the Torino Olympic games (2006) and a gold medal at the World championship in 2005.


Brother: Michal Straka

Team Staff profile of Martin Straka also available

Use/Embed statistics

Martin Straka Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
1988-89 HC Plzen U18 Czechoslovakia U18 34* 37* 34* 71* 42* -* |
1989-90 Czechoslovakia U18 EJC-18 6* 4* 2* 6* 2* -* |
1990-91 TJ Plzeň Czechoslovakia 47* 7* 24* 32* 6* 10* |
Czechoslovakia U20 WJC-20 6* 1* 5* 6* 0* -* |
1991-92 HC Plzeň Czechoslovakia 36* 23* 24* 47* -* -* | Playoffs 14 4 4 8 - -
Czechoslovakia U20 WJC-20 7* 2* 6* 8* 4* -* |
Czechoslovakia (all) International 5* 2* -* -* -* -* |
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 42* 3* 13* 16* 29* 2* | Playoffs 11 2 1 3 2 2
Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 4* 4* 3* 7* 0* 2* |
1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84* 30* 34* 64* 24* 24* | Playoffs 6 1 0 1 2 -3
Czechia WC 3* 1* 0* 1* 4* -2* |
Czechia (all) International 3* 1* 0* 1* 4* -* |
1994-95 HC Plzeň Czechia 19* 10* 11* 21* 18* 13* |
Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 31* 4* 12* 16* 16* 0* |
Ottawa Senators NHL 6* 1* 1* 2* 0* -1* |
Czechia (all) International 3* 1* -* -* -* -* |
1995-96 Ottawa Senators NHL 43* 9* 16* 25* 29* -14* |
New York Islanders NHL 22* 2* 10* 12* 6* -6* |
Florida Panthers NHL 12* 2* 4* 6* 6* 1* | Playoffs 13 2 2 4 2 -2
Czechia (all) International 6* 3* 0* 3* 0* -* |
1996-97 Florida Panthers NHL 55* 7* 22* 29* 12* 9* | Playoffs 4 0 0 0 0 -2
Czechia WCup 1* 0* 0* 0* 0* -1* |
1997-98 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 75* 19* 23* 42* 28* -1* | Playoffs 6 2 0 2 2 -3
Czechia OG 6* 1* 2* 3* 0* 1* |
Czechia (all) International 6* 1* 2* 3* 0* -* |
1998-99 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 80* 35* 48* 83* 26* 12* | Playoffs 13 6 9 15 6 0
1999-00 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 71* 20* 39* 59* 26* 24* | Playoffs 11 3 9 12 10 5
2000-01 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 82* 27* 68* 95* 38* 19* | Playoffs 18 5 8 13 8 -1
2001-02 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 13* 5* 4* 9* 0* 3* |
2002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 60* 18* 28* 46* 12* -18* |
Czechia WC 9* 6* 4* 10* 4* 5* |
Czechia (all) International 11* 7* 5* 12* 4* -* |
2003-04 Pittsburgh Penguins “A” NHL 22* 4* 8* 12* 16* -16* |
Los Angeles Kings NHL 32* 6* 8* 14* 4* -9* |
Czechia “C” WC 7* 2* 2* 4* 4* 2* |
Czechia (all) International 14* 6* 5* 11* 6* -* |
2004-05 HC Plzeň Czechia 45* 16* 18* 34* 76* 5* |
Czechia WCup 5* 1* 2* 3* 0* 1* |
Czechia WC 9* 3* 1* 4* 8* 6* |
Czechia (all) International 24* 5* 8* 13* 10* -* |
2005-06 New York Rangers NHL 82* 22* 54* 76* 42* 17* | Playoffs 4 0 0 0 2 -4
Czechia OG 8* 2* 6* 8* 6* 4* |
Czechia (all) International 8* 2* 6* 8* 6* 4* |
2006-07 New York Rangers “A” NHL 77* 29* 41* 70* 24* 16* | Playoffs 10 2 8 10 2 0
2007-08 New York Rangers “A” NHL 65* 14* 27* 41* 22* 5* | Playoffs 10 3 7 10 16 2
2008-09 HC Plzeň “C” Czechia 51* 22* 30* 52* 20* 12* | Playoffs 17 8 13 21 2 2
Czechia (all) International 1* 0* 1* 1* 0* -* |
2009-10 HC Plzeň 1929 “C” Czechia 35* 17* 26* 43* 32* -2* | Playoffs 6 2 2 4 4 -2
2010-11 HC Plzeň 1929 “C” Czechia 51* 17* 44* 61* 12* 7* | Playoffs 4 3 2 5 0 1
2011-12 HC Plzeň 1929 “C” Czechia 51* 17* 30* 47* 20* 9* | Playoffs 12 2 11 13 4 2
2012-13 HC Plzeň “C” Czechia 47* 15* 39* 54* 18* 26* | Playoffs 20 8 12 20 8 6
2013-14 HC Plzeň “C” Czechia 29* 6* 20* 26* 12* 10* | Playoffs 6 1 1 2 2 0

Martin Straka Tournament Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
1989-90 Czechoslovakia U18 Viking Cup -* -* -* -* -* -* |
2003-04 Czechia EHT 2* 3* 1* 4* 2* 0* |
2004-05 Czechia EHT 2* 0* 1* 1* 0* -* |
2011-12 HC Plzeň 1929 ET 8* 0* 9* 9* 0* -* | Playoffs 2 0 2 2 0 1
2012-13 HC Plzeň ET 1* 0* 0* 0* 0* -* |
2013-14 HC Plzeň ET 2* 1* 0* 1* 0* -* |

Martin Straka Career Totals

League Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/- | Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/-
Czechia 8 328* 120* 218* 338* 1.03* 208* 80* | 6 65 24 * 41 * 65 * 1.00 * 20 * 9 *
Czechoslovakia 2 83* 30* 48* 79* 0.95* 6* 10* | 1 14 4 * 4 * 8 * 0.57 * - * - *
Czechoslovakia U18 1 34* 37* 34* 71* 2.09* 42* -* | 0 * * * * * *
EHT 2 4* 3* 2* 5* 1.25* 2* 0* | 0 * * * * * *
EJC-18 1 6* 4* 2* 6* 1.00* 2* -* | 0 * * * * * *
ET 3 11* 1* 9* 10* 0.91* 0* -* | 1 2 0 * 2 * 2 * 1.00 * 0 * 1 *
IHL 1 4* 4* 3* 7* 1.75* 0* 2* | 0 * * * * * *
International 10 81* 28* 27* 52* 0.64* 30* 4* | 0 * * * * * *
NHL 15 954* 257* 460* 717* 0.75* 360* 67* | 11 106 26 * 44 * 70 * 0.66 * 52 * -6 *
OG 2 14* 3* 8* 11* 0.79* 6* 5* | 0 * * * * * *
Viking Cup 1 -* -* -* -* -* -* -* | 0 * * * * * *
WC 4 28* 12* 7* 19* 0.68* 20* 11* | 0 * * * * * *
WCup 2 6* 1* 2* 3* 0.50* 0* 0* | 0 * * * * * *
WJC-20 2 13* 3* 11* 14* 1.08* 4* -* | 0 * * * * * *
* Some data is missing to provide a correct summary.

Martin Straka Career Highlights

Season
Awards by season
Transactions
DATE STATUS FROM TO SOURCE
03/28/2014
03/28/2014 Confirmed HC Plzeň Retired
06/21/2012
06/21/2012 Extension HC Plzeň HC Plzeň
06/07/2010
06/07/2010 Extension HC Plzeň 1929 HC Plzeň 1929
Player Biography and Trivia

Number 28 retired by HC Plzen

Cult/Star player for Czechia

Cult/Star player for HC Plzen

Cult/Star player for New York Rangers

Cult/Star player for Pittsburgh Penguins

Career transactions
- 2014-03-14 • Announced his retirement
- 2008-07-10 • Signed by HC Plzen
- 2005-08-02 • Signed by the New York Rangers
- 2003-11-30 • Traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Martin Strbak & the rights to Sergei Anshakov
- 1997-08-06 • Signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins
- 1996-03-15 • Claimed off waivers by the Florida Panthers
- 1996-01-23 • Traded to the New York Islanders with & Don Beaupre & the rights to Bryan Berard for Damian Rhodes & the rights to Wade Redden
- 1995-04-07 • Traded to the Ottawa Senators for Troy Murray & Norm Maciver
- 1992-06-20 • Selected 19th overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins

Other memorable dates
- 1993-02-10 • Scored his first NHL goal (vs. New York Rangers vs. Mike Richter)
- 1992-11-07 • Made his NHL debut (vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)