Straka leaving NHL to return to Czech club

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Martin Straka has decided to leave the National Hockey League and return to his former Czech club.

Straka, who played for the New York Rangers the last three season after joining the NHL in 1992, will be a player and sports director for HC Lasselsberger Plzen, the club said on its website Thursday.

"We struck a deal with Martin last night," club president Tomas Kral said.

The 35-year-old forward scored 257 goals and had 460 assists in 954 NHL regular season games, and added another 26 goals and 44 assists in the playoffs.

He joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992, and also played for the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings before joining the Rangers in 2005. He scored 14 goals and had 27 assists last season.

Straka played for Plzen before moving to the NHL, and during the 2004-05 lockout season. Straka was on the Czech team that won the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.