Peter Šťastný (WFAC)

Peter Šťastný (born 18 September 1956), also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a retired Czechoslovak professional ice hockey player of Slovak origin who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. Šťastný is the second highest scorer of the 80's after Wayne Gretzky. During his NHL career, he played with the Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and. He is the father of current forward.

Slovan Bratislava (1975–1980)
He began his pro career with in the Czechoslovak Elite League, starring for his hometown Bratislava team for 6 years. By 1979-80 Peter had become the best player in the country, as he was named the Czechoslovakian Player of the Year after recording 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points in just 41 games. After his sixth season, he was signed by the Quebec NordiquesAn.

Quebec Nordiques (1980–1990)
Shortly after his 24th birthday, Peter Šťastný joined the Nordiques. where he was quickly teamed with Michel Goulet and his older brother Anton. Peter and Anton lined up for the first time together against Calgary on 9 October 1980. Five days later Anton scored his first goal and 12 days later Peter scored one into Tony Esposito's net in a game against Chicago. Peter and Anton became the hub of the team. They did whatever was necessary to get points. Over a two-day period in February, something happened that had probably never happened before in the NHL and will probably never happen again. On February 20, 1981, each of the brothers got a hat-trick to lead their team to a 9-3 win in Vancouver. And less than 48 hours later, that feat was improved upon. Peter scored four goals and Anton three and Quebec won the game 11-7. He easily won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, setting NHL records for assist (70) and points (109) by a freshman (since surpassed). Stastny became first NHL rookie to score 100 points in a season, completely eliminating any doubts about the Slovak hockey great.

Nordiques, who struggled mightily after one season removed from the WHA merger, became instantly respectable and then a eastern power, perhaps saving the franchise from its inevitable demise. And internationally the defection led to the Czechoslovakian authorities allowing veteran athletes to pursue sports for profit late in their careers without having to defect.

Proving his first season was no fluke, Peter would go on to score 7 more 100 point seasons, including six consecutive seasons to start his career. His best season was his sophomore year when he racked up 46 goals and 93 assists for 139 points. The following year he was joined by his brother Marián, becoming 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). 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.

He was a very shifty skater, not necessarily blessed with great speed but more with a tremendous sense of balance. Combine that with his equally incredible vision and puck handling skills and Peter Šťastný ranks as one of the great playmakers ever. He was the lead conductor of his on-ice orchestra. He shared an uncanny connection with his brothers, particularly with Anton on give and go plays. An old school hockeyist, Peter relied almost strictly on his accurate wrist shot. He was especially dangerous on the power play.

Šťastný helped make the Nordiques a powerhouse in the NHL's Wales Conference. Many great regular season and playoff battles occurred with the provincial rival Montreal Canadiens in one of the greatest and unfortunately shortest rivalries the league has ever seen. Despite some great runs, Stastny and the Nordiques never did make an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals. Lack of depth and great goaltending was always the weakness of the Nordiques in their tough playoff battles in the Adams Division and Wales Conference.

New Jersey Devils (1990–1993)
In 1990 he was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Craig Wolanin and Randy Velischek. Despite having lost a step after his decade in Quebec he still helped improve a Devils team on the rise and remained one of the best players on the club until he returned to Czechoslovakia for 1993–1994.

Return to Slovan Bratislava and retirement (1993–1995)
He returned to his native Czechoslovakia for 1993-94, signing a two-year contract with the HC Slovan Bratislava.

Šťastný finished his Hall of Fame career in 1995 with a total of 1237 total points, In his NHL career, he scored 444 goals and added 777 assists for a total of 1221 points in the regular season, which made him the highest scoring European trained player at the time of his retirement (since surpassed). He was so dominant that in the 1980s only Wayne Gretzky scored more points in the decade. In fact, in 1983 Montreal head coach Bob Berry, who saw the Stastnys up close and personal in the heated Battle of Quebec rivalry, suggested Stastny was a better player than Gretzky.

International career
Together with his brother Marián, Peter Šťastný suddenly appeared on the international scene during the Winter Olympics in 1976 as Czechoslovakia defeated the three-time defending champions from the Soviet Union and won the gold medal.

Šťastný helped the Czechoslovak team to win a silver medal in 1978 and titles in 1972, 1976, and 1977. As a member of the Czechoslovak team, he won an Olympic gold medal in 1976.

He was the flag bearer for the Czechoslovak athletic roster at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer. As a 37-year old Stastny finished second in the Lillehammer scoring race, which he also did 14 years earlier in Lake Placid.

Political career
Šťastný has always been known for his resentment of Communism and the. He joined the Slovak People's Party of 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 SĽS. In the June 2009 election he was re-elected as the second of his party's MEPs.

Personal life
In addition to his brothers (and teammates) Marián and Anton, Peter also has an older brother, Vladimír, who was an assistant coach of the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team. Peter also has brother Bohumil and sister Eva.

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 in 2006–07 and now plays for the St. Louis Blues, for whom Peter also played. 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 different 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 Trophy—the NHL honour for "Rookie of the Year" won by his father in 1980–81.