Mário Bližňák

Mário Bližňák
Bližňák with the Vancouver Giants in 2007
Born	(1987-03-06) 6 March 1987 (age 30) Trenčín, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Czech team Former teams	HC Plzeň Vancouver Canucks HC Sparta Praha HK Dubnica HC Slovan Bratislava
National team	Slovakia
NHL Draft	205th overall, 2005 Vancouver Canucks
Playing career	2008–present
Medal record World Championships 2012 Finland

Mário Bližňák (born 6 March 1987) is a Slovak professional ice hockey center who currently plays with HC Plzeň of the Czech Extraliga. He previously played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). After playing in the Slovak Extraliga, Bližňák was selected by the Canucks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and moved to North America, joining the Vancouver Giants of the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL) in 2005. Bližňák played three seasons with the Giants, helping them win the Memorial Cup, the national championship for major junior hockey in Canada, in 2007, before joining the Moose in 2008. He is best known as a defensive forward.

Bližňák began playing junior hockey in his native Slovakia with Dubnica Spartak HC's under-18 and junior teams. After appearing in 19 games with Dubnica's senior team of the Slovak Extraliga as a seventeen-year-old in 2004–05, he was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh round, 205th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Bližňák was also drafted that off-season 27th overall by the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League in the 2005 CHL Import Draft. He subsequently moved to North America to continue to play junior for the Giants.