Peter Stastny

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Peter Šťastný (born September 18, 1956 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. During his time with the Quebec Nordiques, Stastny became a Canadian citizen. Since 2004, he has also served as a Member of the European Parliament for Slovakia.

1 NHL career
2 International play
3 Political career
4 See also
5 Bibliography

[edit] NHL career

After Wayne Gretzky, Peter Stastny was the most prolific scorer in the NHL in the 1980s. He started his career in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques in 1980 and was traded in 1989 to the New Jersey Devils. He retired as a member of the St. Louis Blues in 1995.

Image:StastnyBrothers.jpg

When the startling news broke in 1980 that Czechoslovakia player of the year, Peter Stastny, and his brother Anton, had defected to Canada to play with the Quebec Nordiques, it represented a watershed moment in professional hockey as one of the first major stars of Eastern bloc hockey to join the NHL. The following year, his brother Marian Stastny joined them to become the second trio of brothers to play in the same professional hockey team (the first being the Bentley brothers of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1940s). The trickle of Czech and Soviet hockey players rapidly became a flood following his footsteps. According to Peter, his defection "was the best decision I ever made. It has given my family the choices and options that people behind the Iron Curtain could only dream of. Then, to play pro hockey with my two brothers was like icing on the cake."

On the ice, Peter proved to be both consistent and productive. He scored 450 goals and added 789 assists for a total of 1239 points in the regular season. After retiring as a player, he captained the Slovak national team in various international tournaments and still enjoys huge popularity among Slovaks.

Peter is the father of Yan Stastny, who made his NHL debut in 2005-06 with the Edmonton Oilers, and Paul Stastny, who is a rookie for the Colorado Avalanche. Born in Quebec City but raised in St. Louis, Yan played for Team USA in the 2005 IIHF World Championships, making the Stastnys the first hockey family known to have represented four different countries (Czechoslovakia, Canada, Slovakia, USA) in international play.

[edit] Career Statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1980-81	Quebec	NHL	77	39	70	109	37	5	2	8	10	7
1981-82	Quebec	NHL	80	46	93	139	91	12	7	11	18	10
1982-83	Quebec	NHL	75	47	77	124	78	4	3	2	5	10
1983-84	Quebec	NHL	80	46	73	119	73	9	2	7	9	31
1984-85	Quebec	NHL	75	32	68	100	95	18	4	19	23	24
1985-86	Quebec	NHL	76	41	81	122	60	3	0	1	1	2
1986-87	Quebec	NHL	64	24	53	77	43	13	6	9	15	12
1987-88	Quebec	NHL	76	46	65	111	69	--	--	--	--	--
1988-89	Quebec	NHL	72	35	50	85	117	--	--	--	--	--
1989-90	Quebec	NHL	62	24	38	62	24	--	--	--	--	--
1989-90	New Jersey	NHL	12	5	6	11	16	6	3	2	5	4
1990-91	New Jersey	NHL	77	18	42	60	53	7	3	4	7	2
1991-92	New Jersey	NHL	66	24	38	62	42	7	3	7	10	19
1992-93	New Jersey	NHL	62	17	23	40	22	5	0	2	2	2
1993-94	St. Louis	NHL	17	5	11	16	4	4	0	0	0	2
1994-95	St. Louis	NHL	6	1	1	2	0	--	--	--	--	--
NHL Totals			977	450	789	1239	824	93	33	72	105	125

[edit] NHL Milestones and Records

1st player in NHL history to collect over 100 points in rookie year (109). Note: Wayne Gretzky had 137 points in his first year in the NHL (1979-80), but was not considered a "rookie", due to his time spent with the World Hockey Association's Indianapolis Racers and Edmonton Oilers, where he won the rookie of the year award in that league during the 1978-79 season with 104 points.
2nd player in NHL history to record 1000 or more points in one decade (1119 in the 1980's).
One of 7 players in NHL history to record at least 6 consecutive 100+ point seasons.
Shares NHL record for assists by a rookie (70) with Joe Juneau.
Holds NHL record for points in a road game with 8 (four goals and four assists on February 22nd, 1981 against Washington Capitals).
Recorded 100th NHL point with an assist on March 29th, 1981 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Recorded 1000th NHL point on October 19th, 1989 with a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks, and was the second European-born player, and first trained in Europe, in NHL history to do so. Stan Mikita, the first European-born player to score 1000 points, was born in Czechoslovakia, but raised in Canada.

[edit] Awards

Calder Memorial Trophy - 1981
Played in 6 NHL All-Star Games - 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988
World Championships Best Forward Award - 1995
Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame - 1998
Ranked number 56 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking Slovakian-trained (or Czechoslovakian-trained) player - 1998
Inducted into IIHF Hall of Fame - 2000
Inducted into Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame - 2002

[edit] International play

Played for Czechoslovakia in IIHF World Championships - 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Played for Czechoslovakia in Canada Cup - 1976
Played for Canada in Canada Cup - 1984
Played for Slovakia in 1994 Winter Olympics
Played for Slovakia in IIHF World Championships - 1995

[edit] Political career

Stastny also joined the political arena. In 2004, he headed the European elections candidate list of the main ruling-coalition party in Slovakia, the SDKU, and was elected as one of its three Members of the European Parliament.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

2003 NHL Official Guide & Record Book
Publisher: Dan Diamond and Associates, Inc
ISBN (Canada): 0-920445-79-9
ISBN (United States): 1-57243-500-3
Pages used: 167, 196, 200

Preceded by: Vladimir Martinec	Czechoslovak Golden Hockey Stick 1980	Succeeded by: Milan Novy
Preceded by: Ray Bourque	Winner of the Calder Trophy 1981	Succeeded by: Dale Hawerchuk
Preceded by: Mario Marois	Quebec Nordiques team captain 1985-90, with Mario Marois in 1985	Succeeded by: Steven Finn Joe Sakic