Jaroslav Spacek

Jaroslav Spacek was drafted in 1998 by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round, 117th overall. In Spacek's late teens and early twenties he played in his home country of the Czech Republic. It wasn't until Jaro Spacek was 24 that he was drafted and came over to North America. He played for the Panthers, BlackHawks and BlueJackets. Jaroslav Spacek spent the NHL lockout playing in the Czech Republic before returning to the NHL and his former team, the Chicago BlackHawks.

In January of 2006 Spacek was traded from the Hawks to the Oilers for Tony Salmelainen. It was during this 2005-2006 season where Jaro Spacek contributed to the Oilers dazzling run to the Stanley Cup Final. Jaroslav Spacek then decided to give the Sabres Organization a go. He signed a 3 year contract and was the Sabres go to guy usually leading the team in ice time. Finally Spacek signed another hefty 3 years in Montreal for around 3.36 per year.

Jaroslav Spacek is a veteran defender. At 36 years old, his best years are probably all behind him. Standing six feet tall and weighing 210 pounds he is a fairly big body to try and get around in his own zone and plays well on the powerplay. Smart with the puck, Jaro Spacek is more of a puck moving defenceman as opposed to a defensive one.

Spacek possesses a wicked slapshot from the point. Usually his point slappers end up traveling low on the goalie handing out a juicy rebound. Jaroslav Spacek is a wise defenceman capable of choosing his spots carefully and rarely being caught out of position. He has a great first pass and uses the ice optimally. One of his bigger strengths is his ability to use his stick and position himself one on one, just ask Ovechkin. Often times Jaroslav Spacek will deflect a shot, pass or deke out of danger.

One thing noticed is Jaro Spacek's laziness when moving the puck on occasion. He will be in front of his net looking for options with an opposing forechecker closing in on him when he'll elect to saucer a pass through the forechecker instead of trying to open up a passing lane. Often times this saucer pass is knocked out of the air by the forechecker leaving Jaroslav Spacek out of position and the Canadiens' goaltender, usually Carey Price, out to dry.

Some of Spacek's strengths include his unmatched stick and body positioning which makes him one of the leaders in shots blocked for the Canadiens. He also possesses a powerful point shot making him useful on the powerplay. On top of all this, Jaroslav Spacek has a great first pass along with a good pair of hands.

Some of the cons to Jaro Spacek's game include his speed and conditioning. He is far from the fastest skater on the ice and can get pinned in his own end running on empty. Jaro Spacek is also injury prone.

Jaroslav Spacek's favorite goal celebration is his custom one fist pump. A celebration where he will pull back usually his right arm and charge it up to release an invigorating fist pump. For big time goals that play an important role in games, Jaro Spacek will go down on one knee and charge a furious fist pump.

Jaroslav Spacek and teammate Roman Hamrlik are best friends. They are both Czech natives along with teammate Tomas Plekanec. Last year Spacek and Hamrlik played footsies in seeing who would play the left side when they were paired together by coach Jacques Martin. Hamrlik and Spacek are both left handed so each wanted to play left. Hamrlik won because he made the point that he's been a Canadien longer than Jaroslav Spacek.