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Mariusz Czerkawski
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mariusz Czerkawski (b. April 13, 1972 in Radomsko, Poland) is a Polish ice hockey player who currently plays for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Nationalliga A in Switzerland.
An offensive-minded winger, Czerkawski was drafted by the Boston Bruins with their fifth pick (106th overall) in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He debuted with Boston on April 9, 1994.
The next season, Czerkawski played 47 games with Boston, contributing 26 points. The Bruins traded Czerkawski to the Edmonton Oilers in 1996.
Another trade landed Czerkawski with the New York Islanders in 1997, and he quickly became one of their top offensive threats, posting 70 points on 35 goals and 35 assists in 1999-2000. Czerkawski tallied 30 goals again in 2000-2001.
The Islanders dealt him to the Montreal Canadiens after the 2001-2002 season. It proved to be a disappointing season, where he only scored five goals in 43 games. The Canadiens eventually demoted him to their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Czerkawski was bought out of his contract during the off-season, and signed a one-year deal with the Islanders in 2003. 2003-2004 proved to be a much better year for Czerkawski, as he scored 25 goals and 24 assists.
Czerkawski played in Sweden's Elitserien for Djurgården during the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout.
He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2005-2006 season at 1 year for $500,000 US. Initially benched for a good part of the first quarter of the season due to performance and a shoulder injury, Czerkawski turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the Leafs in the month of December, where he was brought up to the first line with Mats Sundin. He scored goals in three consecutive games alongside Sundin, but went scoreless in the last three games. For the year, Czerkawski had 4 goals and 1 assist in 16 games.
Czerkawski was claimed off waivers by the Boston Bruins on March 8, 2006.
Czerkawski played for Poland in the 1991-1992Winter Olympics where he collected 1 assist in 5 games. He is one of only three current Polish-born hockey players in the NHL; the other two players are Wojtek Wolski of the Colorado Avalanche and Krzysztof Oliwa of the New Jersey Devils.
Czerkawski's jersey number is 29; he has also had the numbers 19 and 21 earlier in his career.
Czerkawski was married to Polish-Swedish film star Izabella Scorupco from 1996 to 1998. They had a daughter, Julia, in 1997.