Radek Faksa

By the mid-point of the season, Faksa and the Rangers had maintained a 22-10-1-0 record and ranked third in the Western Conference.

Faksa played an important role in this winning record, as he led all OHL rookies with 16 goals and 17 assists.

He earned praise for his easy transition to the North American style of play and drew comparisons to Gabriel Landeskog, a fellow European import player.

Radek Faksa (born 9 January 1994) is a Czech professional ice hockey centre for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).

In his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he was the League's leading rookie scorer when he was playing for the Kitchener Rangers.

Faksa was born on 9 January 1994, in Vítkov, Czech Republic, to parents Alena and Jiri Faksa.

His mother was a figure skater while his uncle was a professional hockey player in the Czech Republic.

Faksa began his ice hockey career in his hometown Opava alongside his older brother Martin.

As his mother was a single parent, she struggled to fund his ice hockey career.

At the age of 11, Faksa received an offer from HC Oceláři Třinec to play in Třinec's system.

He accepted and moved alone to Třinec, where he lived by himself in a hotel room paid for by his team.

Faksa struggled in his first season with the team and returned home but was encouraged by his mother and HC Oceláři Třinec's general manager to continue playing.

He was the first Czech taken in the first round of an NHL Entry Draft since Jakub Voráček's selection in 2007.

Faksa split the 2009–10 and 2010–11 between HC Oceláři Třinec's under-18 and under-20 clubs.

He registered 19 goals and 30 assists with the under-18 team and nine goals and six assists with the under-20 team.

Following the 2010–11 season, Faksa was drafted 22nd overall in the 2011 CHL Import Draft by the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Faksa joined the Rangers immediately for their 2011–12 season and scored his first career OHL goal, and added two assists, on 1 October to lift the Rangers over Saginaw Spirit.

He was named to the OHL's 2011-12 First All-Rookie Team and was nominated for the Emms Family Award as the OHL's Rookie of the Year.

Faksa was drafted 13th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Faksa continued to tally points over October and November, resulting in him earning a high ranking from the NHL Central Scouting Bureau among all 2012 NHL Entry Draft eligible OHL players.

At the end of November, Faksa was named the OHL's Rookie of the Month after he paced all league rookies with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points over 10 games.

He was also named to the Czech Republic men's national junior ice hockey team preliminary World Junior roster.

In recognition of his performance, Faksa was selected to participate in the 2012 CHL Top Prospects Game, where he won the “Showdown Breakaway Challenge” in the Top Prospects Skills Competition.

While competing in the OHL, Faksa took courses online to complete his Czech credits and graduate from high school.

Faksa earned his second Rookie of the Month honors in January after leading all rookies in scoring with six goals and eight assists for 14 points over 10 games.

On 10 March 2012, Faksa tallied his fifth goal over three games for his 28th on the season which tied the Rangers record for most goals by a rookie selected through the import draft.

As the Rangers battled for a playoff position, Faksa picked up at least one point in seven of the Rangers’ final nine regular season games to secure them a spot in the OHL postseason.

He finished the month of March with seven goals and seven assists over 13 games, including three points in four playoff games.

As such, he received the OHL's Rookie of the Month honor for the third time in the season.

Although he suffered a concussion during the Rangers first-round series against the Owen Sound Attack, Faksa returned to the lineup for Game 3 of the second-round.

In spite of his concussion, Faksa ranked seventh overall among CHL players eligible for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

He finished his rookie season leading all rookies with 29 goals and 37 assists for 66 points.

Upon concluding his rookie season, Faksa was drafted 13th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

In addition, Faksa was drafted seventh overall by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in the 2012 KHL Junior Draft.

Faksa chose to join the Stars organization and signed a three-year entry-level contract with them after participating in their 2012 training camp.

Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Faksa was returned to the Rangers for the 2012–13 OHL season, however he was made eligible to return to the Stars for their training camp once the lockout ended.

Faksa played the entirety of the 2012–13 season with the Rangers, recording nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points over 39 games.

While his regular season was shortened due to a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain, Faksa returned to the Rangers lineup for their OHL playoff series where he added four goals and two assists over 10 games.

On 16 April 2013, Faksa was re-assigned to the Dallas Stars' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Texas Stars, for the remainder of their season.

He recorded his first professional point, an assist, on 19 April to help the Stars clinch first place in the Western Conference for the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs.