Paul Szczechura

Paul Szczechura
Born (1985-11-30) November 30, 1985 (age 39)
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
team
Former teams		 GKS Tychy
Tampa Bay Lightning
Buffalo Sabres
HC Lev Praha
Dinamo Riga
Dinamo Minsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2007–present

Paul Szczechura (/ʃɪˈhʊərə/;[1] born November 30, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Early life

Szczechura grew up in the small town of Brantford, Ontario which is the hometown of other professional hockey players such as Wayne Gretzky, Pat Hickey, Chris Gratton, Keith Jones and Adam Henrique. He is of Polish descent.[2]

Playing career

Szczechura grew up playing hockey in his hometown of Brantford playing minor hockey for both the Brantford Saints and Brant Bandits AAA hockey programs.[citation needed] He played in the 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with Brantford.[3] After being drafted in the 11th round of the 2001 OHL Priority Selection by the Barrie Colts, Szczechura decided to pursue an NCAA scholarship and played three seasons with the Brantford Golden Eagles of the OHA Midwestern Ontario Jr.B. League.[citation needed] He accepted a scholarship to Western Michigan University in 2003.[citation needed]

Previously, Szczechura played for Western Michigan University (CCHA), the Iowa Stars (AHL) and the Norfolk Admirals (AHL). He signed with the Lightning as a free agent on April 24, 2008, and debuted against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 2, 2008. He scored his first NHL goal against Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins on December 8, 2008.[4] Szczechura scored his second career goal and assisted on another Lightning goal on December 23, 2008 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was named the first star of the game. He was later signed by the Buffalo Sabres to play with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. On November 26, 2011, the Sabres recalled Szczechura.[5]

On May 22, 2012, it was announced that Szczechura signed a one-year contract to join Czech team, HC Lev, for their first foray into the Kontinental Hockey League.[6] Szczechura appeared in three games to start the 2012–13 season, before losing his place in the high flying Lev squad. On September 26, 2012, Szczechura signed contract to transfer over with fellow KHL, club Dinamo Riga.[7] After two seasons, in May 2014 he signed a two-year contract with HC Dinamo Minsk.[8] After his contract had expired, he moved fellow to KHL outfit Traktor Chelyabinsk, signing in May 2016.[citation needed]

As a free agent from Chelyabinsk after three seasons, Szczechura extended his KHL career in agreeing to a one-year contract with his fifth KHL club, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod on July 16, 2019.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Brantford Golden Eagles OMHA 42 29 41 70 28 — — — — —
2003–04 Western Michigan University NCAA 39 9 11 20 12 — — — — —
2004–05 Western Michigan University NCAA 37 6 23 29 22 — — — — —
2005–06 Western Michigan University NCAA 40 10 26 36 47 — — — — —
2006–07 Western Michigan University NCAA 37 19 26 45 26 — — — — —
2006–07 Iowa Stars AHL 14 3 4 7 19 10 3 1 4 8
2007–08 Iowa Stars AHL 29 2 3 5 15 — — — — —
2007–08 Norfolk Admirals AHL 24 14 12 26 16 — — — — —
2008–09 Norfolk Admirals AHL 33 13 16 29 26 — — — — —
2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 31 4 5 9 12 — — — — —
2009–10 Norfolk Admirals AHL 35 8 21 29 24 — — — — —
2009–10 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 52 5 2 7 18 — — — — —
2010–11 Norfolk Admirals AHL 79 22 30 52 43 3 1 0 1 4
2011–12 Rochester Americans AHL 56 21 26 47 26 3 0 1 1 0
2011–12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 9 1 3 4 4 — — — — —
2012–13 HC Lev Praha KHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2012–13 Dinamo Rīga KHL 43 8 20 28 20 — — — — —
2013–14 Dinamo Rīga KHL 53 17 18 35 42 7 0 4 4 6
2014–15 Dinamo Minsk KHL 55 14 26 40 38 5 0 1 1 0
2015–16 Dinamo Minsk KHL 45 13 15 28 32 — — — — —
2016–17 Traktor Chelyabinsk KHL 60 14 27 41 32 6 1 2 3 2
2017–18 Traktor Chelyabinsk KHL 55 20 22 42 26 14 1 5 6 6
2018–19 Traktor Chelyabinsk KHL 41 10 5 15 14 — — — — —
2019–20 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 40 4 11 15 12 4 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 92 10 10 20 20 — — — — —
KHL totals 395 100 144 244 216 36 2 12 14 14

References

  1. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Paul Szczechura interview. YouTube.
  2. ^ Paul Szczechura - the man who put Brantford on KHL map. KHL
  3. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  4. ^ "Paul Szczechura player profile". Tampa Bay Lightning. December 12, 2010. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  5. ^ "Sabres Sign Michael Ryan, Paul Szczechura to One-Year Deals". Buffalo Sabres. August 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  6. ^ "Szczechura thanks fans for support". SabreNoise.com. May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  7. ^ "Dinamo Riga agree with Paul Szczechura" (in Latvian). Dinamo Riga. September 26, 2012. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  8. ^ "КХЛ. Канадский форвард Щехура перешел в минское "Динамо"" (in Russian). May 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "Szczechura becomes a torpedo player". Kontinental Hockey League. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.