Jan Muršak
Jan Muršak[1] (born 20 January 1988) is a professional Slovenian ice hockey forward currently playing for SC Bern of the National League (NL). Muršak first played hockey in Slovenia as a member of HDK Maribor before he left to spend one season in the Czech junior league. He was then selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and moved to the major junior Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played for two teams, the Saginaw Spirit and Belleville Bulls. After finishing his junior career Muršak then joined the Red Wings American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2008.
| Jan Muršak | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Muršak with the Detroit Red Wings in 2012 | |||
| Born |
20 January 1988 Maribor, Slovenia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| NL team Former teams |
SC Bern HDK Maribor Detroit Red Wings HDD Olimpija Ljubljana Amur Khabarovsk CSKA Moscow Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Frölunda HC | ||
| National team |
 | ||
| NHL Draft |
182nd overall, 2006 Detroit Red Wings | ||
| Playing career | 2004–present | ||
| Website | JanMursak.com | ||
Playing career
European career and juniors
Muršak developed his skills in his hometown ice hockey club HDK Maribor where he played until the age of 17. As a youth, he played in the 2001 and 2002 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a team from Slovenia.[2] He later transferred to Czech club HC Ceské Budejovice for which he played for a season in CZE-U20 youth development league.
In 2006 he was selected by the Detroit Red Wings as the 182nd overall draft pick (6th round). During the same year Muršak was drafted by the Saginaw Spirit in 1st Round of the 2006 CHL Import Draft, 33rd overall. He had a successful first season for Saginaw which earned him a playoff call up for the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings. In his second OHL season, Muršak was traded from the Saginaw Spirit, to the Belleville Bulls where he stayed until the end of the season, before moving on to play regularly for Grand Rapids in the AHL.
Detroit Red Wings
Muršak signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in April 2007. Since his draft in 2006 he has made appearances for the Red Wings during training camps. On 26 December 2010 it was announced by Detroit that Muršak was called up to the team to fill in after an ankle injury of Danny Cleary. He made his NHL career debut on 28 December 2010 in a game against the Colorado Avalanche, thus becoming the second Slovenian, after Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, to play in the NHL.[3] Muršak scored his first NHL goal on 10 January 2011, also in a game against the Avalanche against Peter Budaj. On 17 February 2011, Muršak signed a new two-year contract with the Red Wings.[4]
Due to the 2012 NHL lockout, Muršak signed a temporary contract with the Slovenian hockey team HDD Olimpija Ljubljana of the EBEL league.[5] In 30 games with Olimpija, he excelled with 48 points, before returning for the start of the shortened 2012–13 season with the Red Wings. On opening night, he was again setback by injury, after hurting his collarbone in a 6–0 defeat against the St. Louis Blues.
On his return to health, and with limited opportunity with the Red Wings, Muršak was placed on waivers on 22 February 2013.[6] He was assigned to the Griffins for the remainder of the season.
Return to Europe
As an impending free agent, Mursak subsequently moved to Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.[7]
After re-establishing his offensive presence in three and half seasons with CSKA Moscow, Muršak left the club as a free agent and opted to continue in the KHL in signing a one-year contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novogord on May 1, 2017.[8]
Mursak then played for Frolunda HC in the SHL and scored a brace on his first team game debut against HV71 on January 11, 2018. Mursak currently plays for SC Bern in the NL.
International play
Muršak was chosen to compete on the Slovenia national junior team in the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (Division I) in Latvia, where he scored one goal and two assists and was named the best forward of the tournament.[9] He made his debut for the Slovenian senior team at the 2010 Division I Championships, held in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. In 2014, Muršak represented Slovenia at their first appearance at the Olympics. Muršak also represented Slovenia at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, most notably coming on as a substitute in the last minutes of the game against USA, and scoring two late goals to win them the game.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | HDK Maribor U18 | Slov-U18 | 13 | 27 | 18 | 45 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | HDK Maribor U18 | Slov-U18 | 22 | 27 | 17 | 44 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | HDK Marior Jr. | Slov Jr. | 19 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | HDK Maribor | Slov | 14 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | HDK Maribor Jr. | Slov Jr. | 19 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | HDK Maribor | Slov | 24 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | HC Ceské Budejovice | Czech.20 | 43 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 62 | 27 | 53 | 80 | 50 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 26 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 31 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 8 | 21 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 10 | ||
| 2008–09 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 51 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 79 | 24 | 18 | 42 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 54 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | HDD Olimpija Ljubljana | EBEL | 30 | 19 | 29 | 48 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 23 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 12 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 23 | ||
| 2012–13 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Amur Khabarovsk | KHL | 36 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | CSKA Moscow | KHL | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2014–15 | CSKA Moscow | KHL | 53 | 17 | 26 | 43 | 20 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | CSKA Moscow | KHL | 51 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2016–17 | CSKA Moscow | KHL | 33 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 57 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 2017–18 | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | KHL | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Frölunda HC | SHL | 15 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | SC Bern | NL | 32 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 24 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | ||
| 2019–20 | SC Bern | NL | 42 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 46 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| KHL totals | 199 | 49 | 75 | 124 | 180 | 37 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 24 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Comp | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Slovenia | U18 (Div I) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2006 | Slovenia | U18 (Div I) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2006 | Slovenia | WJC (Div I) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Slovenia | WJC (Div I) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | |
| 2008 | Slovenia | WJC (Div I) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2010 | Slovenia | WC (Div I) | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Slovenia | Oly | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Slovenia | WC (Div IA) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2015 | Slovenia | WC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Slovenia | OQ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017 | Slovenia | WC | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
| 2018 | Slovenia | Oly | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 25 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 24 | |||
| Senior totals | 35 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 18 | |||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| OHL | ||
| Second All-Rookie Team | 2007 | |
| AHL | ||
| Calder Cup (Grand Rapids Griffins) | 2013 | |
| NL | ||
| Champion (SC Bern) | 2019 | [10] |
| International | ||
| Best Forward (IIHF U20 Championships Division IB) | 2008 | |
References
- "Jan Mursak selects NHL". SloveniaTimes.com. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- Grand Rapids Griffins (27 December 2010). "Cleary out, Mursak to make NHL debut". DetroitRedWings.com. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- Ansar Khan (17 February 2011). "Red Wings sign Jan Mursak to two-year deal". mlive.com. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- "A Red Wing for Olimpija" (in German). Austrian Hockey League. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- "Jan Mursak wishes he'd have gotten better opportunity with Red Wings, but knows it's time to move on". mlive.com. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
- Kimelman, Adam. "Dark horses at Olympics to benefit from NHL talent". NHL.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- "Jan Mursak signs a contract with Torpedo" (in Russian). Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- IIHF (18 December 2007). "Best Players Selected by the Directorate" (PDF). IIHF.com. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- "SC Bern 2019 Swiss Champions!". leading-sport.com. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jan Muršak. |
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database