Tyler Bozak

Tyler Bozak (born March 19, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for and an alternate captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bozak has also played for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL). Prior to being signed by the Maple Leafs as a free agent, Bozak had played two seasons with the University of Denver Pioneers of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
==Playing career==
===Amateur===
Bozak started playing in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for the Victoria Salsa (later known as the Victoria Grizzlies) in the 2004–05 season. He spent three seasons in the BCHL with the Victoria franchise. In his final season, Bozak recorded 128 points (45 goals and 83 assists), and was awarded the Brett Hull Trophy as the league's Top Scorer. 
On December 11, 2006, the University of Denver Pioneers announced that Bozak had signed a letter of intent to play hockey for the school. He joined the Pioneers for the 2007–08 season. During his freshman year with the club, Bozak played in all 41 games and led the team in scoring with 34 points (18 goals and 16 assists). He was second in the country with five shorthanded goals. During the season, Bozak was named the Red Baron Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Week four times and was named the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) Rookie of the Month for December. At the end of the season, Bozak was named to the All-WCHA third team and to the All-WCHA Rookie Team.
Heading into his sophomore season with the Pioneers, Bozak was named to the College Hockey News Preseason All-America Team On December 12, he tore the meniscus in his left knee in a game against Minnesota State, and this caused him to miss more than half of the Pioneers season. After the season, Bozak was named to the All-WCHA Academic Team.
===Professional===
After his sophomore season, Bozak was a heavily pursued free agent in spite of never being drafted by an NHL team. He signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 3, 2009. Exact financial details of the contract were not released, but it has been rumoured to be worth close to $4 million per season if all performance bonuses were to be reached. Bozak did not suit up for the Leafs at the end of the 2008–09 season, instead taking the time to further rehabilitate his injured knee.
Bozak attended the Maple Leafs' training camp prior to the 2009–10 season. He had a strong training camp, though due to salary cap constraints, he was sent down to the Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies Then-Maple Leafs Head Coach Ron Wilson admitted that Bozak indeed had a strong camp, stating, "He'll probably have to go down because of numbers. Based on the way he played in training camp, he's certainly worthy of playing in the NHL, but we may not have room at the beginning." Bozak was eventually recalled on October 13, 2009, and made his NHL debut the same night against the Colorado Avalanche. During the game, he recorded his first NHL point, an assist on a goal scored by defenceman Francois Beauchemin After playing one game for Toronto, Bozak was returned to the Marlies on October 15. Later in the season, on January 12, 2010, he was again called by the Maple Leafs, where two days later, on January 14, he scored his first career NHL goal in a 4–0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Bozak had his first career two-goal game on January 1, 2011, against the Ottawa Senators as part of a 5–1 win. In the following off-season, on July 5, he then agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with the Maple Leafs. On July 5, 2013, two years later, he signed a five-year, $21 million deal with the Maple Leafs.
On March 28, 2015, towards the conclusion of the 2014-15 season, Bozak scored his first career NHL Hat trick as well as recording one assist to cap off a four-point performance, contributing to all four Toronto goals. Bozak would finish the season with a career-high 23 goals whilst tying his career high of 49 total points.
On December 28, 2015, Bozak was named one of the NHL's three stars of the week for the period of December 21–28. Bozak had 5 points in this 3 game span, and picked up his second career hat trick along the way, in a 7–4 win over the Avalanche on December 21.
==Personal life==
Bozak's parents are Mitch and Karon,, and he has one older brother, Justin. He graduated from Sheldon-Williams Collegiate in Regina, Saskatchewan. While in high school, he volunteered for the Raise a Reader program and was on the honour roll all three years. While at the University of Denver, Bozak majored in Business.
Bozak is a Ukrainian-Canadian. Bozak is currently engaged to Molly Robinson and had his first child in November 2015, Kanon Bozak.
==Career statistics==
  	  	  	 	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	 	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs
Season 	Team 	League 	 	GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM 	 	GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM
2004–05 	Regina Pat Canadians	SHA 	 	42 	17 	19 	36 	40 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2004–05 	Victoria Salsa 	BCHL 	 	55 	15 	16 	31 	24 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2005–06 	Victoria Salsa 	BCHL 	 	56 	31 	38 	69 	26 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2006–07 	Victoria Grizzlies 	BCHL 	 	59 	45 	83 	128 	45 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2007–08 	University of Denver	NCAA 	 	41 	18 	16 	34 	22 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2008–09 	University of Denver	NCAA 	 	19 	8 	15 	23 	10 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2009–10 	Toronto Marlies 	AHL 	 	32 	4 	16 	20 	6 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2009–10 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	37 	8 	19 	27 	6 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2010–11 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	82 	15 	17 	32 	14 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2011-12 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	73 	18 	29 	47 	22 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2012-13 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	46 	12 	16 	28 	6 	 	5 	1 	1 	2 	4
2013-14 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	58 	19 	30 	49 	14 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2014-15 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	82 	23 	26 	49 	44 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2015-16 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	NHL 	 	57 	12 	23 	35 	18 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
NHL totals	NHL totals 	NHL totals	 	435 	107 	160 	267 	124 	 	5 	1 	1 	2 	4
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Awards==
===Junior===
 
Award 	Date
Brett Hull Trophy as BCHL Top Scorer	2006–07 season
===NCAA===
 
Award 	Date
Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week	November 6, 2007December 18, 2007January 2, 2008February 12, 2008
HCA Rookie of the Month 	December 2007
All-WCHA Third Team 	2007–08
All-WCHA Rookie Team 	2007–08
All-WCHA Academic Team 	2008–09
==External links==
*Tyler Bozak's stats on hockeydb
Category:Born in 1986
Category:Canadian ice hockey players
Category:Denver Pioneers players
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players
Category:Toronto Marlies players
Category:Undrafted