Ľubomír Vaic Explained

Position:Centre
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:9
Weight Lb:178
Played For:HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
Vancouver Canucks
Birth Date:6 March 1977
Birth Place:Spišská Nová Ves, Czechoslovakia
Ntl Team:SVK
Career Start:1997
Career End:2017
Draft:227th overall
Draft Year:1996
Draft Team:Vancouver Canucks

Ľubomír Vaic (born 6 March 1977) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey player who spent most of his career in the Slovak Extraliga. After several years in Slovakia Vaic joined the Canucks in 1999 and played 9 games for them over two seasons. He returned to Europe in 2000 and continued to play in various leagues before retiring in 2017. Internationally Vaic played for the Slovakian national team at several tournaments at both the junior and senior level and won a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championship.

Biography

As a youth, Vaic played in the 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Poprad.[1]

Drafted by the Canucks 227th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Vaic came to North America a year later. He scored 27 points in 50 games for the Syracuse Crunch, Vancouver's AHL affiliate. He also earned a 5-game call-up to the Canucks, where he scored his only NHL goal, and added an assist.

Vaic returned to Slovakia for another year before returning to the Canucks organization for the 1999–2000 season. However, he would find himself in much the same situation, scoring 42 points in 63 games for Syracuse, and being held pointless in 4 NHL games in Vancouver. Following the season he returned to Europe, signing with Eisbären Berlin.[2]

Vaic became something of a nomad, appearing with five clubs in five different major European leagues over the next five seasons. He was, however, a consistent offensive performer, and helped Metallurg Magnitogorsk to the Russian league championship in 2003–04. He would finally find a long-term home in the Czech Extraliga, after signing with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec in 2004. In 2005–06, he finished 2nd in scoring in the Extraliga and helped Liberec to the league championship. At the end of the 2006–07 season he joined HC Sparta Prague.

Vaic has appeared in 9 NHL games, recording a goal and an assist for two points. He has also represented Slovakia at three World Championships, winning a silver medal in 2000 and a bronze medal in 2003.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1993–94ŠKP PopradSVK28 10 6 16 10
1994–95ŠKP PopradSVK20 5 4 9 2
1995–96KošiceSVK49 7 26 33 16
1995–96VTJ Spišská Nová VesSVK-22 0 2 2 4
1996–97KošiceSVK43 15 12 27 28
1997–98Vancouver CanucksNHL5 1 1 2 2
1997–98Syracuse CrunchAHL50 12 15 27 223 0 0 0 4
1998–99KošiceSVK46 22 25 47 50
1999–00Vancouver CanucksNHL4 0 0 0 0
1999–00Syracuse CrunchAHL63 13 29 42 424 0 3 3 8
2000–01Eisbären BerlinDEL26 1 6 7 70
2001–02VsetínCZE34 10 18 28 28
2001–02SaiPaFIN22 7 4 11 30
2002–03SaiPaFIN56 16 23 39 28
2003–04Metallurg MagnitogorskRUS49 12 14 26 2412 2 3 5 16
2004–05Bílí Tygři LiberecCZE51 13 14 27 6212 4 5 9 12
2005–06Bílí Tygři LiberecCZE52 20 32 52 1015 0 4 4 6
2006–07Bílí Tygři LiberecCZE45 9 9 18 487 1 1 2 6
2007–08Sparta PragueCZE52 10 9 19 694 0 0 0 0
2008–09Slovan BratislavaSVK55 14 37 51 4012 2 7 9 16
2009–10Slovan BratislavaSVK46 15 39 54 3015 5 14 19 20
2010–11Slovan BratislavaSVK33 11 12 23 43
2010–11VIK VästeråsSWE-212 5 6 11 8
2011–12PopradSVK54 18 33 51 596 1 3 4 6
2012–13Spišská Nová VesSVK-230 20 20 40 40
2012–13PopradSVK25 7 12 19 377 0 2 2 27
2013–14PopradSVK24 6 6 12 45 0 2 2 2
2013–14Spišská Nová VesSVK-21 0 1 1 2
2014–15Spišská Nová VesSVK-242 13 33 46 6913 6 8 14 10
2016–17Spišská Nová VesSVK-243 13 28 41 883 1 1 2 2
SVK totals423 130 212 342 31945 8 28 36 71
NHL totals9 1 1 2 2

International

YearTeamEventGP G A Pts PIM
1994SlovakiaEJC-C6 10 6 16 20
1994SlovakiaWJC-C4 3 2 5 2
1995SlovakiaEJC-B5 6 10 16 4
1996SlovakiaWJC6 2 4 6 25
1997SlovakiaWJC6 1 7 8 10
2000SlovakiaWC9 0 3 3 4
2003SlovakiaWC6 0 1 1 0
2006SlovakiaWC7 0 0 0 2
Junior totals27 22 29 51 61
Senior totals22 0 4 4 6

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA. 2018. Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2019-02-01.
  2. Web site: EHC - Presse: Archiv - Index . Eisbären Berlin . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011118152344/http://www.eisbaeren.de/aktuell/news/archiv/7.html . November 18, 2001 . De . 4.Mai 2000 Eisbären verpflichten Vaic.