Martin Straka signs one-year contract with his former Czech club, leaving NHL
2008-07-10 11:20:00
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Martin Straka signed a one-year contract Thursday with his former Czech club.
Straka, who played for the New York Rangers the last three seasons after joining the NHL in 1992, will also take the post of manager-general for HC Lasselsberger Plzen, the club said on its website.
The Czech club announced the move June 26 but the deal was signed Thursday. After the season, Straka had to think over offers from several NHL and Russian clubs.
The 35-year-old forward scored 257 goals and had 460 assists in 954 NHL regular-season games, and added another 26 goals and 44 assists in the playoffs.
He joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992, and also played for the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings before joining the Rangers in 2005. He scored 14 goals and had 27 assists last season.
Straka played for Plzen before moving to the NHL, and during the 2004-05 lockout season. Straka was on the Czech team that won the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
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“I was coming in to take the boards away and had some good jump. He bobbled the puck at the last second and I don’t think he saw me coming at all. It was a shoulder right in his chest. He’s eight feet tall, so it’s not like you could hit him in the head.”
- Ottawa's Chris Neil about a hit he threw on Tampa's Victor Hedman Thursday night, causing Hedman to leave the game.
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