Levente Szuper
| Levente Szuper | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Szuper with his daughter in 2013 | |||
| Born |
June 11, 1980 Budapest, Hungary | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for |
AHL Kazakh Arystan Temirtau | ||
| National team |
 Hungary | ||
| NHL draft |
116th overall, 2000 Calgary Flames | ||
| Playing career | 1996–2012 | ||
Levente Szuper (born June 11, 1980) is a
Career
Early years
Szuper began playing hockey in Hungary at an early age, but also showed a flair for the arts. He became an accomplished actor and pianist, but it was between the pipes that he began to achieve prominence. He starred with Ferencvárosi TC as a 16-year-old and led the team to its last domestic title so far. He moved on to the junior team of the Krefeld Pinguine for the 1997–98 season, and had a stellar performance in the 1998 Pool C World Championships.
Moving to North America
Despite his success in Europe, Szuper was pretty unknown when he broke into the
Szuper wasn't picked in the
During the 2002–03 season, Szuper was called up to the NHL with Calgary due to an injury of starting netminder Roman Turek. Szuper dressed for 9 games as the backup for Jamie McLennan, but never played. He is the first Hungarian native to appear on an active NHL roster for a game, but does not appear in the NHL register since he wasn't given any icetime.
After failing to stay with Calgary after the 2002–03 season, Szuper was picked by the St. Louis Blues and played in the 2003–04 season in their ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.
Return to Europe
After the year in Peoria, Szuper tried to find a team in Europe for the
Having played most of the next campaign with the
After the success of the national team in the
Second stint playing in North America
On November 4, 2010, Szuper signed with the
Szuper leaves Mavericks to play in Kazakhstan
On January 13, 2012, after playing only one game for the Mavericks, Szuper left the team to sign with the Kazakh team
Personal
Szuper lives in his hometown of Budapest. He likes to spend his spare time with his horses on his ranch just outside the city. As a child, he started acting, and also worked as a well known dubbing actor. Today, after the end of his own hockey career, he works as a co-commentator during the NHL season, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the World Championships for Hungarian sports channel Aréna4.
His family name means "super" in Hungarian; due to this, his helmets usually include a modified Superman logo with a letter Z.
References
- ^ "Arizona Adds Former NHL Draft Pick Goaltender Levente Szuper". Arizona Sundogs. 2010-11-04. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- ^ "Mavericks Acquire Szuper and Schafer in Trades with Arizona". OurSportsCentral.com. January 2, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ "Mavericks Send O'Nabigon to Arizona to Complete Trade". OurSportsCentral.com. January 12, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ "Mavericks Goaltender Levente Szuper Heads to Russia, Placed on Team Suspension". OurSportsCentral.com. January 13, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ "Вратарь Супер перешёл в "Арыстан"" (in Kazakh). Arystan Temirtau. January 15, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
External links
- Official site
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database