Josef Melichar

Josef Melichar IV
Born	(1979-01-20) January 20, 1979 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Occupation	Ice hockey defenceman
Years active	1997–2011

Josef Melichar IV (born January 20, 1979) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman from the Czech Republic.

Playing career

Selected 71st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Melichar spent two seasons in junior hockey with the Tri-City Americans of the Canadian Hockey League between 1997 and 1999. During this period, he earned a nomination for the Western Hockey League's best defenceman award in 1998.

Melichar began his professional career in the 1999–00 season, playing all 80 games for the inaugural Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team in the American Hockey League. At age 21, he made his NHL debut in October 2000, appearing in 18 games for Pittsburgh, a team notable for its strong Czech presence including coach Ivan Hlinka. He returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for their playoff campaign, which concluded as Calder Cup finalists in 2001.

In the 2001–02 season, Melichar established himself as a regular on Pittsburgh's defense but his campaign was shortened by a shoulder injury. Although under a one-way contract, he managed only eight games in 2002–03 owing to persistent shoulder problems. Following several surgeries and an additional injury during the 2003 training camp, he completed all 82 games of the 2003–04 season, recording his first NHL goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 27, 2004.

During the NHL lockout of 2004–05, Melichar played with HC Sparta Praha in his native Czech Republic. He agreed to a multi-year contract with Pittsburgh in August 2005 and was appointed alternate captain in March 2006. That season marked personal bests with three goals and twelve assists over seventy-two games.

In his final year with Pittsburgh, Melichar partnered on the second defensive pairing alongside Rob Scuderi, ranking second on the team for blocked shots and maintaining a solid plus-minus rating while guarding top opposing forwards. Without a contract renewal offer from Pittsburgh, he transitioned to European leagues, joining HC České Budějovice in the Czech Extraliga before moving to Linköpings HC in Sweden’s Elitserien.

On July 1, 2008, Melichar signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. He was later traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 7, 2009, along with Wade Brookbank and a draft pick, in exchange for Jussi Jokinen. In July 2009, Melichar departed Tampa Bay to rejoin his hometown club, HC České Budějovice.

He returned to Linköpings HC on August 10, 2010. On July 5, 2011, Melichar signed with HC Pardubice for his fourth tenure with that organization.

Retirement

On August 18, 2011, just one month after signing a one-year deal, Melichar unexpectedly announced his retirement. HC Pardubice explained: "After careful consideration and due to family circumstances, Josef Melichar has chosen to retire this season and requested early termination of his contract."

His agent and former teammate Michal Sivek commented only that Melichar "simply lacks the motivation to continue playing hockey."

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	HC České Budějovice	CZE U18		38	3	4	7			—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	HC České Budějovice	CZE U20		41	2	3	5	10		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Tri-City Americans	WHL		67	9	24	33	152		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Tri-City Americans	WHL		65	8	28	36	125		11	1	0	1	15
1999–2000	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		80	3	9	12	126		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		18	0	2	2	21		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		46	2	5	7	69		21	0	5	5	6
2001–02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		60	0	3	3	68   |— |— |— |— |— |- |2002–03 |Pittsburgh Penguins |NHL |8 |0 |0 |0 |2 |— |— |— |— |— |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" |2003–04 |Pittsburgh Penguins |NHL |82 |3 |5 |8 |62 |— |— |— |— |— |- |2004–05 |HC Sparta Praha |ELH |13 |0 |4 |4 |8 |5 |0 |0 |0 |6 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" |2005–06 |Pittsburgh Penguins |NHL |72 |3 |12 |15 |66  |  —  |  —  |  —  |  —  |  —  |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL70 1 11 12 44 5 0 0 0 2|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2007–08 HC Mountfield ELH6 00 04 — — — — — - bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2007–08 Linköpings HC SEL50 08 87416 1 1 2 39|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL15 04 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2008–09 Albany River Rats AHL25 14 35|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL24 05 29|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2008–09 Norfolk Admirals AHL1-|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|2009–10 HC Mountfield ELH52-91480-56-06|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|201011 HC Mountfield ELH12018-11 Linköpings HC SEL41-5247-002-02|- bgcolor="#e020e020"! colspan="3"|AHL totals !152 !6 !18 !24 !230 !21 !015 !56 !230 !--!-bgcolor=#e020e020"! colspan=3"|NHL totals !349 !7 !42 !49 !300 !5 !00 !00 !00 !2!-bgcolor=#e020e020"! colspan=3"|ELH totals !83 !5 !14 !19 !98 !10 !00 !00 !00 !12|} International Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Czech Republic EJC 6 0 1 1 6 Transactions 2007 – Joined Linköpings HC in the Swedish Hockey League (Elitserien) as a free agent July 2, 2008 – Agreed to a one-year contract worth $1 million with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2008–09 NHL season February 7, 2009 – Included in a trade alongside Wade Brookbank and a fourth-round selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, moving to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Jussi Jokinen External links