Alex Goligoski was born on July 30, 1985 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a small town North of Minneapolis. He is recognized as a contributing offensive and solid defensive defenseman, with speed and agility that comes rare in this position. He is especially gifted along the blue line, either quarterbacking the power play or setting up quick rushes to the net. He has always provided a presence. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=72455

In 2002, Goligoski started his amateur career in the United States Hockey League (USHL) playing for the River City Lancers. After playing ten games for the Lancers, he was traded to Sioux Falls Stampede. He played two defensively sound seasons helping him get scouted and committing to the University of Minnesota. He played three full seasons for the northern college club with exceptional statistics, participating in 117 games and scoring 98 points and committing to 158 penalty minutes. However, his first productive season with Minnesota led him to the 2004 National Hockey League (NHL) draft, where he was selected in the second round at 61st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He’s only 6’0 feet tall and weighs under 200 pounds, but he is a force on the ice that some clubs are lucky to withhold.

The 2009/10 campaign was Alex Goligoski’s first full season with his first NHL club, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins were never dependent on Goligoski, but they wanted him to mature alongside his veteran teammates such as Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik. He played 69 games and recorded 37 points and kept the penalty minutes at a low of 22 minutes. http://penguins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8471274

This was a tough season for Goligoski as he witnessed the fall of a club in a post-season challenge. He had a tremendous season and playing in the playoffs just helped him experience how a championship team has to work harder the next season to repeat such a title. Losing to the Montreal Canadiens was a hurtful series for the club and the rookie because of the Canadiens eighth seed birth into the playoffs--it wasn't expected of them. Goligoski worked in the back end to attempt to stop their goal scorers, but it was a fight since the Canadiens used the speed of their wingers in every play. However, he took the on-ice experience to teach him about the pressures of Stanley Cup Championships.

Goligoski played 45 games for the Penguins until he was swapped back to the American Hockey League (AHL) and suited up for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, helping them with their post-season run. The only reason Goligoski played as many games as he did was because the injuries the Penguins confronted in their defense. His talents were needed and he was the Penguins best prospect at the time. This was the first real taste for the young American defenseman--and he displayed a skillful game for Penguins' management.

Ater his call-up, the Penguins recognized the potential he held in his skates and stick. It allowed them to leave a open position for Goligoski and move a couple of their big D-men.