2018-19 in Review: Libor Sulak

In his first full season in North America, defenseman Libor Sulak began the campaign with the Red Wings and skated in six games before being assigned to Grand Rapids and registering 14 points (5-9—14) in 61 AHL contests.

Regular Season stat line

61 GP, 5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points, -7 rating, 42 PIM with GRG
6 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, -4 rating, 6 PIM, 19:22 average ice time with DRW

Postseason stat line

4 GP, 0 goals, 2 assist, 2 points, +4 rating, 4 PIM

Contract status

Restricted free agent

By the numbers

3 – During the Griffins’ three-game road trip that began the 2019 calendar year, Sulak tallied an assist in each contest to mark a season high.

+4 – His postseason plus/minus rating led all team defensemen and placed second overall behind only Colin Campbell’s +5.

5 – Sulak’s five goals ranked second among Grand Rapids defensemen and his 14 points tied for fifth.

22:17 – He played an NHL season-high 22:17 in his second game on Oct. 7 at Los Angeles.

28 – In his 28th AHL game of the season, Sulak scored his first North American goal at 4:20 of the opening period in a 3-2 overtime loss at Cleveland on Dec. 28.

170 – When Sulak stepped on the ice 57 seconds into the Red Wings’ season opener vs. Columbus on Oct. 4, he became the 170th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL. He logged 18:26 of ice time and one shot in the team’s 3-2 overtime loss.

1985 – When Sulak, Michael Rasmussen, Christoffer Ehn, Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek all made their NHL debuts on Oct. 4 vs. Columbus, it marked the first time since Oct. 10, 1985 (also Detroit) that a team had five or more players make their NHL debuts in the same game (Christopher Cichocki, Tim Friday, Doug Houda, Petr Klima, Adam Oates and Ray Staszak).