Andrej Meszároš
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| Position | Defence |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname(s) | Mez |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg/15 st 10 lb) |
| NHL Team | Ottawa Senators |
| Nationality |  Slovakia |
| Born | October 13, 1985 , Považská Bystrica, Slovakia then CSSR |
| NHL Draft | 23rd Overall, 2004 Ottawa Senators |
| Pro career | 2005 – present |
Andrej Meszaros (IPA: /ɑndɹeɪ . mɛszɑroʊs/ Slovak: Andrej Meszároš IPA: [ɑndɹeɪ . meɪszɑroʃ]), (born October 13, 1985) is a Slovakian[1] ice hockey defenceman currently with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. Born in Považská Bystrica, Slovakia then CSSR, his name is of Hungarian origin, and means 'butcher'.[citation needed]
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[edit] Playing career
Andrej Meszároš was the Senators first draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and 23rd pick overall. He has played in the NHL since the 2005–06 season. Before joining the Senators, he played for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL and Dukla Trenčín in the Slovak Extraliga. He also played with the Slovak national ice hockey team in the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Meszároš was the second youngest player at the Men’s tournament in the Turin Olympics. Only Russia’s Evgeni Malkin was younger.
Meszároš is known primarily for being a strong positional defencemen with the ability to move the puck up the ice. In his first season in the NHL, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and had a plus/minus rating among the league leaders. In his second season, his former defence partner Zdeno Chara signed as a free agent with the Boston. His sophomore season saw his plus/minus drop. However, Meszároš redeemed himself with a strong post-season finishing 2nd on the Senators at plus 5 (behind defensive partner Redden at plus 6). The pair also had a streak of 10 games in the 2007 post-season in which they were not on the ice for an even strength goal against. In his third season, 2007–08, he struggled defensively along the rest of the Senators, but had a productive season offensively and often played the point on the team's power play.
[edit] Career highlights
- Scored first NHL assist 2005-10-10 in a 6–5 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Scored first NHL goal 2005-12-09 against the Vancouver Canucks at 5:01 in the 3rd period to tie the game (which would be won by Vancouver in an overtime shootout)
- As a 20 year old NHL rookie, he was named to Team Slovakia for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
- Led the NHL in plus-minus rating for most of his rookie year (2005–06), and finished tied for third in that category with Jaromir Jagr at +34
- Scored 39 points, second only to Dion Phaneuf among first-year defencemen and made the NHL All-Rookie Team
- Was selected to play in the NHL YoungStars Game held during the 2007 all-star week in Dallas along with teammate Patrick Eaves, and scored 2 goals in a 9–8 win
- Scored the first goal of the 2007 playoffs.
- As of 2008-03-29, Meszaros has not missed a single regular season or playoff game since joining the NHL and is the only current Ottawa Senator to have not missed a single regular season or playoff game since the 2004–05 lockout season.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Dukla Trencin | Slovakia | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003–04 | Dukla Trencin | Slovakia | 44 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Vancouver Giants | WHL | 59 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 94 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 2005–06 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 61 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 | ||
| 2006–07 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 102 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 12 | ||
| 2007–08 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 9 | 27 | 36 | 50 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| NHL Totals | 246 | 26 | 84 | 110 | 213 | 34 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 36 | ||||
| Slovakia Totals | 67 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||
[edit] International play
- U-18 World Junior Championships — (2002, 2003) — Team Captain, Silver Medal
- World Junior Championships — (2004, 2005) — Team Captain
- World Championships — (2004)
- Played for Team Slovakia in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Andrej Meszároš's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Andrej Meszároš's NHL player profile
- Andrej Meszaros at NHLPA
- Andrej Meszároš at the Ottawa Senators page
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