Martin Straka has not died, although it is going to feel a little bit like that to me when I take his autographed jersey to be cleaned and framed. For three years I have worn his size 52 to games. The cuffs are grimy and the numbers on the back are slightly black from incidental contact with a dirty car.
For years friends have teased me over my love of who J and I refer to as “my other husband”. Straka will never be listed among the greats – Gretzky, Lemieux or Crosby.
He was not a big guy. He was a small and swift skater, strong enough to take a hit, smart enough to know when one was coming.
He was not much of a fighter, although he could throw a punch. Hockeyfights.com has no record of any fights and the only time I recall seeing him tangle with an opposing player was during the 2006 Winter Olympics.
He was accident prone, breaking his leg (the same one, twice), multiple bones in his face and damaging his back within a 14 month span.
He was underrated. The first to be traded away when a team's payroll became too heavy, he bounced to six different teams in the span of his 18 year career in the NHL, half that time spent with the Penguins. He skated under the radar, with 257 goals, 460 assists and 717 points.
Straka was a player's player, I think. He showed up, he practiced, he played, he supported his teammates. I'll never be sure, since I never met him in real life. The closest I ever came was standing near the boards to watch him warm up, earlier this year.
I always said that once he retired, I would retire his jersey. Now that he has signed with HC Lasselsberger Plzen and effectively left the NHL, the time has come.
Straka was certainly a bright spot in some tough seasons. He was a great goal scorer, too, whatever his stats say.
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