European Player of March: Martin Růžička, Třinec (CZE Extraliga)

04 Apr 2011 | Petr Polák

Eurohockey.com names the best player every month. This time the winner is Martin Růžička, a 25-year old forward of HC Oceláři Třinec. His March statistics: 26 points (14+12) in 12 playoff games(!).

Photo: http://www.hcocelari.cz/

Who is Martin Růžička?

Martin Růžička was born on Dec 15, 1985 in Beroun, Czechoslovakia, but even if he is a Beroun’s native, the biggest part of his youth years he spent in the teams of Sparta Prague and Kladno.

In 2003 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to get experiences of North-American hockey. He spent two seasons in the teams of Everett Silvertips and Lethbridge Hurricanes in WHL, but he hasn’t realized how NHL tastes yet.

This was one of reasons why he decided to come back to the Czech Republic, to play in Sparta Prague. He took a place in the fourth line, had not much space on the ice, but became a member of the Sparta league winning team 2006.

The next three seasons were in the sign of Znojmo engagement and before the season 2009/2010 he moved to the north-east end of Czech Republic, to the city of Třinec. The first season in the red jersey brought a big improvement to Růžička’s career. He played in a line with Ladislav Kohn and during all the season he scored 25-times.

It carried out an invitation into the Czech national team pre-WC camp for Růžička and because of a big number of Czech NHL player’s rejections he also went to Germany to play in the World Championships. He started in 6 games and scored 0 points, but reached a gold medal and became a World Champion.

This season, Růžička is the most valuable player of Třinec, he reached as much as 50 points during the regular season and helped for Třinec to reach the President’s trophy for the best club of the Czech Extraliga regular season.

Why is Martin Růžička named Best player of March?

His current form is amazing. In March he reached 26 points in 12 playoffs games and held a 10-game-long streak with at least one goal per game and broke Viktor Ujčík’s record (9 games in a row with goals scored). Later, he tied Žigmund Pálffy’s record from the playoffs 1992 – Pálffy scored 26 points during the playoffs. Now, before the league finals between Třinec and Vítkovice the Růžička’s balance is also 26 points and he has at least 4 games to break Pálffy’s record.

Eurohockey.com will bring an exclusive interview with Martin Růžička later this week.

Past winners
February 2011 - Petri Vehanen
January 2011 - Antti Pihlström
December 2010 - Jakub Stepanek