Peter Šťastný (; born 18 September 1956), also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a Slovak-Canadian former professional ice hockey player and politician who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. He played 16 seasons in the NHL for the Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues.
A consistent scorer in his day, Šťastný initially played hockey with HC Slovan Bratislava in his native Czechoslovakia, which he represented in international play that saw him win the Ice Hockey World Championships in 1976 and 1977. However, fears over the regime led to him taking a chance to defect alongside his wife and his brother Anton, doing so in August 1980 after a club tournament in Austria provided the opportunity. The defection was successful and he would play with his brother for the Nordiques and quickly became one of the major stars of Eastern bloc hockey to join the league. In his very first season with the Nordiques, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy for his play as a rookie, which saw him set history as the first rookie to record 100 points in their first season in the NHL; it was the first of six consecutive 100-point seasons. The following year saw him play with his older brother Marián to become the third trio of brothers to play on the same team in NHL history. In the decade of the 1980s, Šťastný recorded the second most points for all players in the NHL, behind only Wayne Gretzky. He became a Canadian citizen in 1984 just in time for the Canada Cup, who won the tournament with Šťastný on the roster.
The season saw him record his 1,000th point as a player before he was traded to the Devils late in the season. Upon the breakup of Czechoslovakia, he represented the Slovakia national team for their first appearance in an elite ice hockey competition in the 1994 Winter Olympics, serving as the captain. He retired from the NHL in 1995. In 977 games, he recorded 450 goals and 789 assists for 1,239 points, which was seventeenth most in NHL history when he retired; currently, he ranks 34th all time in NHL points and second overall for players born in Slovakia. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000.
He served as general manager for the Slovakian team for the 2002 IIHF World Championship, which won the gold medal for the country's first championship. He served as a member of the European Parliament for Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. In 2017, Šťastný was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. He is also the father of former NHL center Paul Stastny.
Early life
Šťastný was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia as 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. Frantiska stayed at home and raised the children. Vladimir would later serve as an assistant coach of the Slovak national ice hockey team and was the only coach with all three medals in Slovak ice hockey history.
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 an almost monolingual francophone city, Šťastný 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.
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.
- Holds Nordiques/Avalanche franchise record for hat tricks with 16.
Personal life
Peter is the father of Yan Stastny and Paul Stastny. Paul began his career with the Colorado Avalanche (the same franchise as the Quebec Nordiques, Peter's first NHL team) in the 2006–07 season, followed by the St. Louis Blues, for whom Peter also played. Paul also played for the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets and Carolina Hurricanes, before retiring in 2023. Yan made his NHL debut in the 2005–06 season with the Edmonton Oilers and last played professionally for the EHC Lustenau in 2018. The team won their first major championship with the 2002 IIHF World Championship, which won the gold medal.
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. 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.
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.
International play
Šťastný joined the Czechoslovakia national team in 1976, often playing with his brothers Marian and Anton on the same line. He played with the team once in the Olympics, where the team finished fifth at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. In April 1984, Peter became a Canadian citizen. He subquently played for the Canadian team at the Canada Cup months later, where they defeated Sweden in the finals.
When Czechoslovakia broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Šťastný played with the Slovakia men's national ice hockey team. Serving as team captain, they quickly qualified for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, which saw them win their group and make it to the quarterfinals before losing to Russia.
Awards and achievements
- Calder Memorial Trophy – 1981
- NHL All-Star Game – 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988
- World Championships Best Forward Award – 1995
- Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998
- Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000
Legacy
A stellar player that was beloved in Quebec City by the fans, when Šťastný retired, he was one of only nineteen players to record 400 goals and 700 assists in NHL history and one of only four players with seven 100-point seasons. Šťastný was the first player in ice hockey history to represent three countries in three international tournaments. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 alongside former linemate Michel Goulet in a ceremony held on November 16, 1998. They were the first Hall of Famers to earn their credentials primarily with the Nordiques, prior to the franchise relocating to become the Colorado Avalanche.
He was ranked number 56 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking Slovak-trained (or Czechoslovak-trained) player in 1998. He was inducted into both the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame (2002) and the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (2010), although he voluntarily quit the former under protest of Slovak management of the hockey team. In 2022, he was named by the The Athletic as the 56th best player of the NHL modern era.