Chad E. Kolarik (born January 26, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey right wing. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers.

Chad Kolarik
Chad Kolarik during the American Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2013
Born (1986-01-26) January 26, 1986 (age 38)
Abington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shot Right
Played for Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers
Linköpings HC
Avangard Omsk
Kloten Flyers
Adler Mannheim
EC Red Bull Salzburg
National team  United States
NHL draft 199th overall, 2004
Phoenix Coyotes
Playing career 2008–2020

Playing career

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As a youth, Kolarik played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Philadelphia Flyers minor ice hockey team.[1]

Kolarik was drafted 199th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes while he was playing for the University of Michigan. After completing his senior year with the Wolverines in the 2007–08 season, Chad signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Coyotes on April 13, 2008.[2] He was then assigned to their affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, for the Calder Cup playoffs.[citation needed]

On March 3, 2010, Kolarik was traded from the Coyotes to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alexandre Picard.[3] He made his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets on April 5, 2010 against the St. Louis Blues.[4]

On November 11, 2010, Kolarik was traded from the Blue Jackets to the New York Rangers in exchange for Dane Byers.[4] He earned his first NHL point for the Rangers with an assist on a goal by Brandon Prust against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 20, 2011.[5][6]

There was speculation that Kolarik would make the New York Rangers squad in the 2011–12 season, but he missed the entire year after he tore his ACL in training camp.[citation needed]

On January 24, 2013, Kolarik was traded from the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Benn Ferriero.[7]

After a strong ending of the 2012–13 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Kolarik chose to move overseas, signing a two-year deal with Linköpings HC of the Swedish Hockey League.[8] During the final season of his contract in Sweden, Kolarik sought a release in October, 2014, to sign a contract with Russian club, Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.[citation needed]

On April 30, 2015, he agreed to a one-year contract with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss NLA.[9] Kolarik made 38 NLA appearances for the Kloten squad, scoring 16 goals and assisting on twelve more. He left the team after the 2015–16 season and moved to Germany, signing with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[10]

Helping Adler Mannheim claim the DEL championship in the 2018–19 season, Kolarik left as a free agent for neighbouring league, the EBEL, signing a one-year deal with Austrian outfit, EC Red Bull Salzburg, on May 1, 2019.[11] In his lone season in the EBEL, Kolarik posted 43 points in 48 games as the team's second leading scorer. He collected 4 playoff points in 3 games before the season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 2, 2020, Kolarik ended his tenure with Red Bull Salzburg by announcing his retirement from professional hockey after 12 years.[12]

Personal life

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He married University of Michigan gymnastic Kylee Botterman in August 2011 in Botterman's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Kolarik proposed to Botterman in December 2010 after a three-year, long-distance relationship.[13] Together they have one son, Christian.[14]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 U.S. NTDP U17 USDP 21 14 10 24 4
2002–03 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 44 16 22 38 43
2003–04 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 10 3 4 7 4
2003–04 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 45 18 20 38 16
2004–05 University of Michigan CCHA 42 18 17 35 53
2005–06 University of Michigan CCHA 41 12 26 38 30
2006–07 University of Michigan CCHA 41 18 27 45 24
2007–08 University of Michigan CCHA 39 30 26 56 24
2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 7 4 2 6 0
2008–09 San Antonio Rampage AHL 76 20 30 50 47
2009–10 San Antonio Rampage AHL 59 17 18 35 41
2009–10 Syracuse Crunch AHL 17 9 6 15 14
2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 2 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Springfield Falcons AHL 13 4 6 10 18
2010–11 Hartford Wolf Pack/CT Whale AHL 36 17 14 31 36 3 3 2 5 0
2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 4 0 1 1 2
2012–13 Connecticut Whale AHL 41 16 19 35 38
2012–13 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 35 15 18 33 17 15 5 6 11 17
2013–14 Linköpings HC SHL 53 30 18 48 64 14 6 4 10 16
2014–15 Linköpings HC SHL 11 4 3 7 4
2014–15 Avangard Omsk KHL 29 7 9 16 10 12 4 4 8 8
2015–16 Kloten Flyers NLA 36 15 12 27 14 2 1 0 1 0
2016–17 Adler Mannheim DEL 50 25 16 41 38 7 3 6 9 2
2017–18 Adler Mannheim DEL 47 23 23 46 14 10 0 8 8 8
2018–19 Adler Mannheim DEL 46 21 27 48 6 14 3 8 11 8
2019–20 EC Red Bull Salzburg EBEL 48 20 23 43 16 3 1 3 4 0
AHL totals 277 98 111 209 211 25 12 10 22 17
NHL totals 6 0 1 1 2
DEL totals 143 69 66 135 58 31 6 22 28 18

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2004 United States WJC18   6 1 3 4 2
2018 United States OG 7th 2 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 6 1 3 4 2
Senior totals 2 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors

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Award Year
College
All-CCHA First Team 2008
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 2008
AHL
All-Star Game 2013
DEL
Champion (Adler Mannheim) 2019 [15]

References

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  1. ^ "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 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "Coyotes sign Chad Kolarik to entry level contract". Phoenix Coyotes. April 13, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "Blue Jackets acquire Matt Rust and Chad Kolarik in a pair of deals". Columbus Blue Jackets. March 3, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Rangers obtain Kolarik from Jackets". New York Rangers. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  5. ^ "Rangers Ward-ed off by a hot goalie". newyorkrangers.com. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  6. ^ "Carolina 4, NY Rangers 1". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  7. ^ "Penguins acquire forward Kolarik from Rangers". Pittsburgh Penguins. January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  8. ^ "27-årig amerikan klar för Linköping". Linköpings HC. June 28, 2013. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  9. ^ "Chad Kolarik and Patrick Obrist to the Kloten Flyers". Kloten Flyers. April 30, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "ADLER Mannheim". www.adler-mannheim.de. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  11. ^ "First new arrival announced from German champions" (in German). EC Red Bull Salzburg. May 1, 2019. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  12. ^ "Chad Kolarik draws a line" (in German). EC Red Bull Salzburg. July 2, 2020. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  13. ^ Spelich, Matt (January 29, 2011). "Botterman juggles wedding plans, gymnastics amid solid season". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  14. ^ Santoliquito, Joseph (January 30, 2018). "Former La Salle hockey player gets shot to represent U.S. at Winter Olympics". phillyvoice.com. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  15. ^ "Adler Mannheim wins DEL". IIHF. April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
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