Peter Šťastný

Peter Šťastný (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpɛtɛɾ ˈʃcastniː]; born 18 September 1956), also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a retired Slovak-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. Stastny is the second highest scorer of the 1980s, after Wayne Gretzky. During his time with the Quebec Nordiques, Stastny became a Canadian citizen. From 2004 to 2014, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for Slovakia. During his NHL career, he played with the Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues.

Peter Šťastný
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1998
Šťastný in 2011
Born (1956-09-18) 18 September 1956
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Slovan Bratislava
Quebec Nordiques
New Jersey Devils
St. Louis Blues
National team  Czechoslovakia,
 Canada and
 Slovakia
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1975–1995
Peter Šťastný
Member of the European parliament
for Slovakia
In office
20 July 2004 – 1 July 2014
Personal details
Born (1956-09-18) 18 September 1956
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Political partySlovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party, (EPP-ED)
Spouse(s)Darina Šťastná

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and ranks 34th all time in NHL points (and second overall for players born in Slovakia). In 2017, Šťastný was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[1] He is the father of current Vegas Golden Knights forward Paul Stastny.

NHL career

Peter Šťastný was a 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 1990 to the New Jersey Devils. As a star member of a team playing in a francophone city, Stastny endeared himself to the Quebec fans by learning to speak French, and later learned to speak English. He retired as a member of the St. Louis Blues in 1995.

When the startling news broke in 1980 that Czechoslovakia player of the year, Peter Šťastný, 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, Marián, joined them and they became the third trio of brothers to play on the same professional hockey team (the first being the Bentley brothers of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1940s and the second being the Plager brothers of the St. Louis Blues in the 1970s).

The trickle of Czechoslovak 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.

NHL milestones and records
Šťastný during an alumni game in 2010.
  • 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 110 points.
  • Shares NHL record for assists by a rookie (70) with Joé Juneau.
  • Holds NHL record for points in a game by a rookie with 8 (four goals and four assists on 22 February 1981 against Washington Capitals).
  • Holds NHL record for points in a road game with 8 (four goals and four assists on 22 February 1981 against Washington Capitals).
  • Holds NHL record for points in 2 consecutive games with 14 (3 goals and 3 assists on 20 February 1981 against Vancouver Canucks and 4 goals and 4 assists on 22 February 1981 against Washington Capitals).[2]

Personal life

Šťastný was born in Bratislava, the fourth son of Stanislav and Frantiska Šťastný. His two older brothers, Vladimir (born 1945) and Bohumil (born 1947), were born when the family still lived in the village of Pružina, about 170 kilometres northeast of Bratislava. They moved to Bratislava before the birth of Marián (1953), Peter (1956), Anton (1959), and Eva (1966). Stanislav worked for a state-run company that built hydro-electric dams until 1980 when he retired, and mainly dealt with managing inventory.[3] Frantiska stayed at home and raised the children.[4] Vladimir served as an assistant coach of the Slovak national ice hockey team. He is the only coach with all three medals in Slovak ice hockey history.

Peter is the father of Yan Stastny, who made his NHL debut in 2005–06 with the Edmonton Oilers and is currently playing in Nuremberg, Germany, and Paul Stastny, who began his career with the Colorado Avalanche (the same franchise as the Quebec Nordiques, Peter's first NHL team) in 2006–07, followed by the St. Louis Blues, for whom Peter also played. Paul now plays for the Vegas Golden Knights. Paul wears the same number (#26) that Peter did. Born in Quebec City but raised in St. Louis, Yan played for Team USA in the 2005 and 2006 IIHF World Championships. Paul would represent Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Olympics. The family is thus the first hockey family known to have represented four countries in international play (Czechoslovakia, Canada, Slovakia, USA). Paul broke the record for a scoring streak in a rookie season in the NHL and was a finalist for the 2006–2007 Calder Memorial Trophy—the NHL honour for "Rookie of the Year" won by his father in 1980–81.

Career in politics
Photo of Peter Šťastný's 2009 campaign for election to the European Parliament

Šťastný has always been known for his resentment of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. He joined the party SDKÚ-DS of the former Prime-minister Mikuláš Dzurinda to pursue a career in the European Parliament since he is fluent in both English and French. He was elected as leader of the 2004 European Parliament candidate list for the SDKU.

In the June 2009 election he was re-elected as the second of his party's MEPs.[5] His campaign slogan was "With Courage and Determination for a Strong Slovakia" (Slovak: S odvahou a nasadením pre silné Slovensko). He was MEP until 2014.

He is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.[6]

Široký controversy

Šťastný has called for Juraj Široký to step-down as the President of Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, stating poor performance, pursuing own financial interests over the welfare of Slovak Hockey as well as moral incredibility after it was revealed that Mr Široký was former ŠtB officer and he still has not sufficiently explained his friendship and involvement with Viktor Kožený and his fraudulent financial manoeuvres regarding so-called Harvard Funds. These grievances were penned in a letter to René Fasel in a letter describing Široký as a threat to democracy and integrity of the game in March 2008, as a result of Široký's actions in the 1980s (during which time Peter and two of his brothers had defected to Canada). Three months later, with Široký having not resigned from HC Slovan Bratislava, for whom Šťastný had played prior to his defection to Canada, or the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, Šťastný resigned from the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame as a result, and had all references to him pulled from Samsung Arena, the home arena of Slovan at the time.[7]

Awards

Career statistics
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1974–75 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH Jr. — — — — — — — — — —
1975–76 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 32 19 9 28 — — — — — —
1976–77 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 44 25 27 52 — — — — — —
1977–78 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 42 29 24 53 28 — — — — —
1978–79 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 39 32 23 55 21 — — — — —
1979–80 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 41 26 26 52 58 — — — — —
1980–81 Quebec Nordiques NHL 77 39 70 109 37 5 2 8 10 7
1981–82 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 46 93 139 91 12 7 11 18 10
1982–83 Quebec Nordiques NHL 75 47 77 124 78 4 3 2 5 10
1983–84 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 46 73 119 73 9 2 7 9 31
1984–85 Quebec Nordiques NHL 75 32 68 100 95 18 4 19 23 24
1985–86 Quebec Nordiques NHL 76 41 81 122 60 3 0 1 1 2
1986–87 Quebec Nordiques NHL 64 24 53 77 43 13 6 9 15 12
1987–88 Quebec Nordiques NHL 76 46 65 111 69 — — — — —
1988–89 Quebec Nordiques NHL 72 35 50 85 117 — — — — —
1989–90 Quebec Nordiques NHL 62 24 38 62 24 — — — — —
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 12 5 6 11 16 6 3 2 5 4
1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 18 42 60 53 7 3 4 7 2
1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 66 24 38 62 42 7 3 7 10 19
1992–93 New Jersey Devils NHL 62 17 23 40 22 5 0 2 2 2
1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL 17 5 11 16 4 4 0 0 0 2
1993–94 HC Slovan Bratislava SVK 4 0 4 4 0 — — — — —
1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL 6 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
TCH totals 198 131 109 240 107 — — — — —
NHL totals 977 450 789 1239 824 93 33 72 105 125

International play
Medal record
Representing Czechoslovakia
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
1976 Poland
1977 Austria
1978 Czechoslovakia
1979 Soviet Union
Canada Cup
1976 Canada Cup
Representing Canada
Men's ice hockey
Canada Cup
1984 Canada Cup

Šťastný was the first player in ice hockey history to represent three countries in three international tournaments.[8]

International statistics
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1975 Czechoslovakia WJC 5 3 2 5 —
1975 Czechoslovakia EJC 5 3 1 4 4
1976 Czechoslovakia WJC 4 1 1 2 0
1976 Czechoslovakia WC 9 8 4 12 0
1976 Czechoslovakia CC 7 0 4 4 2
1977 Czechoslovakia WC 10 3 5 8 0
1978 Czechoslovakia WC 10 5 6 11 7
1979 Czechoslovakia WC 8 2 3 5 6
1980 Czechoslovakia OLY 6 7 7 14 6
1984 Canada CC 8 1 2 3 0
1994 Slovakia OLY 8 5 4 9 9
1995 Slovakia WC B 6 8 8 16 0
Junior totals 14 7 4 11 —
Senior totals 66 31 35 66 30
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See also

References
  1. "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  2. MaGuire, Liam. "Twitter universe in action on the weekend – courtesy of Sam Gagner and the Super bowl". Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.
  3. Laflamme 2012, p. 61
  4. Laflamme 2012, p. 62
  5. "Results of the 2009 election, SDKU candidates" Archived 7 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Slovak Statistical Office 7 June 2009
  6. "Prague Declaration: Selected signatories". Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  7. Stastny open letter against Siroky, accessed 8 March 2010
  8. Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.46, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9

Bibliography
  • 2003 NHL Official Guide & Record Book, pages 167, 196, 200. Dan Diamond and Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-920445-79-9 (Canada), ISBN 1-57243-500-3 (United States)
  • Laflamme, Robert (2012), Les Stastny: Le Coup de Génie de Gilles Léger (in French), Montreal: Hurtubise, ISBN 978-2-89647-873-6
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Vladimír Martinec		 Golden Hockey Stick
1980		 Succeeded by
Milan Novy
Preceded by
Ray Bourque		 Winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy
1981		 Succeeded by
Dale Hawerchuk
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mario Marois		 Quebec Nordiques captain
1985–90		 Succeeded by
Steven Finn
Joe Sakic
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