Mariusz Czerkawski

Mariusz Czerkawski (b. April 13 1972 in Radomsko, Poland) is a Polish ice hockey player who currently plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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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.

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The next season, Czerkawski played 47 games with Boston, contributing 26 points. The Bruins traded Czerkawski to the Edmonton Oilers in 1996.

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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. That year, he became the first Polish-born and Polish-trained hockey player to be named to the NHL All-Star Game.

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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.

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Czerkawski played in Sweden's Elitserien for Djurg?rdens during the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout. He has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2005-2006 season at 1 year for $500,000 US.

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1972: 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday....

Radomsko: Radomsko is a town in central Poland with 51,330 inhabitants . Situated in the Lodz Voivodship (since 1999), previously in Piotrkow Trybunalski Voivodship (1975-1998)....

Ice hockey: Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in Canada and the United States, is a team sport played on ice. It is one of the world's fastest sports, with players on skates capable of going high speeds on natural or artificial ice surfaces. The most prominent ice hockey nations are Canada, United States, Rus...