Slovan secure Svatoš

Thirty year old Marek Svatoš (born 17.6.1982 in Košice) has spent the vast majority of his career overseas after launching his professional career at the age of 18 for his hometown HC Košice. In 2000 he moved to the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League, which helped his selection to the Slovakian national team at the 2002 World Junior Championships, where he scored seven goals in seven games and was selected to the all-star team.

Svatoš, who was drafted 227^th overall in the 2001 draft, made his NHL debut in the 2003/2004 season with the Colorado Avalanche. He scored twice in the first four regular seasons he played, before scoring six points in 11 playoff games. Following a season in the AHL during the 2004/2005 lockout, Svatoš really made his name in 2005/2006, where he had a career high 50 points in 61 games with the Avalanche, finding the back of the net 32 times.

Possessing talent in abundance, good skating ability and a wicked shot, Svatoš has been one of Slovakia’s premier forwards over the past seven years. Svatoš was selected to the Slovakia roster in 2006 for the Turin Olympics, and featured on the 2010 World Championship roster. In total, Svatoš has featured in 344 NHL games, totalling 172 points.

This is not Svatoš’ first foray into the KHL, as in 2010/2011 he scored 8 points in 19 games for Avangard Omsk, before leaving to go back to the NHL with the Nashville Predators and then the Ottawa Senators. The following season saw Svatoš take a break from hockey to recover from a series of knee injuries. He took part in the Florida Panthers pre-season training camp last week, but was unable to secure a roster spot.

Despite a 21 month break from hockey, HC SLOVAN has full faith in Marek to contribute for the club, and his experience and skill will be vital during the playoff run-in and his leadership qualities will be extremely important should the team reach the Gagarin Cup playoffs.