Name: Erik Piatak
DOB: 06/03/1986
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 14st 7lbs
Nationality: Slovakian
Position: Centre
Shoots: Right
Tonight’s one to watch is big Slovakian centre Erik Piatak, he will be no stranger to fans in the UK and especially those of teams in the old EPL. He has previously played for Peterborough and Guildford before moving back to mainland Europe.
At the beginning of his career Piatak spent the first 6 seasons playing for HK Poprad, he split his time between the senior team in the top league and the U-20 age group team. While doing this Piatak earned call ups to the Slovakian national teams at U-18 and U-20 levels where he played in the top group World Junior Championships for each.
Before joining Peterborough in 2013 the only senior league Piatak had played in was the top league in Slovakia and he played a total of 281 games in that league, during that time he scored 74 points. For Peterborough to get Piatak in the EPL straight from Slovakia with the CV he had was quite a coup and he performed very well, scoring 75 points in 51 games. A season in Kazakhstan split his time between Peterborough and Guildford and while in Surrey he again did well but once more moved on, this time to Hungary.
A return to Slovakia beckoned for Piatak in 2016 but this time it was in the second division with HK Michalovce, during his time here he really found his scoring touch again and put up 77 points in only 70 games. In both seasons he was there it was enough to get the team into the promotion play-off and last season they achieved promotion.
At the start of the last NIHL National season Piatak was playing in Hungary before the Raiders came calling and brought him back to the UK. He had a very good season on his return to the UK, he managed to score 59 points in 39 games which is a superb return on an 8th placed team. It was this form that earned him a new deal with the Raiders and they will be hoping for more of the same this season too.
