• Forward
• Born Sept. 18, 1956 – Braitislava, Slovakia
• Height 6'-1"
• Weight 195 lb
• 1980-81 Calder Memorial Trophy
• Peter Stastny 15 years NHL 1980 - 1995
• Played with Quebec, New Jersey, St Louis
• 6 time All Star
• Inducted into the HHOF 1998

In November 1998 two former Quebec Nordiques players, Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny, became members of the prestigious Hall of Fame in Toronto. The Quebec Nordiques never made it farther in Stanley Cup playoffs than the semifinals. Nonetheless, they were a team who could have won the Cup, given favorable circumstances. After Wayne Gretzky, Peter Stastny was the most prolific scorer in the NHL in the 1980s, and the terrific backup he had in Quebec included his brothers Anton and Marian. In fact, Peter Stastny often went out on the ice as forward on two different attack lines.

Together with his brother Marian, Peter Stastny suddenly appeared on the international scene during the World Championship in Katowice in 1986. It was at this tournament that Poland surprised the Soviet Union with a 6-4 win and opened the door for Czechoslovakia to win the title.

But with the good times came the bad. After an embarrassing loss by the Czechoslovaks at the Lake Placid Olympic Games, newspapers were harsh in their criticism of the three Stastny brothers. It didn't matter that in six matches, Peter had scored seven goals and registered seven assists.

In the summer of 1980, Peter and Anton decided to go abroad, a move that stirred up a lot of emotion in their home country when Peter played for Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup. The Czechoslovakian media called his inclusion a provocation. They complained to the Canadian coaches that there were plenty of good hockey players in Canada and that they had no need to use a player who wasn't Canadian. But the papers weren't quite correct. Peter Stastny had become a Canadian citizen and as such had a perfect right to line up for the game wearing the maple leaf.

Shortly after his 24th birthday, Peter Stastny joined the Quebec Nordiques. In the first match the brothers played together, Peter and Anton lined up against Calgary on October 9, 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. And a third hat-trick was scored in the game by the top scorer on the Nordiques team at the time, Jacques Richard, who scored 52 goals that season.

Peter Stastny got 39 goals in his first season in the NHL and registered 70 assists. This was a record among rookies until the arrival of another European, Finn Teemu Selanne. A year later Stastny registered the most points overall on the team with 139. Peter Stastny, along with Michel Goulet, who topped the list in 1983-84 and again in 1986-87, took over the top scoring positions with Quebec at the time. But Peter clearly reigned as the best passer. In third place behind these two greats during this era was Peter Stastny's younger brother, Anton.

Peter Stastny, representing the Quebec Nordiques, took part in six All-Star games. Near the end of his career, he played for the New Jersey Devils and then the St. Louis Blues. He also suited up for his native Slovakia at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and the 1995 Pool B World Championships.

He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame in 2000.

Interview with a Legend by Ken Newans

When the 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 may have been the most important event in modern day professional hockey. Brother Marian joined them the following year. Their defection story read like a Robert Ludlum novel. It started the rush of Czech and Soviet hockey players to North America. Peter told me the defection was scary beyond imagination. According to Peter, “It 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.” Peter keeps close contact with his family. In the big picture, ridding his home land of communism gave the people back their country, their freedom, their values. Peter doesn't hide his hatred of Communism that enslaved his homeland for almost 50 years.

 

Q: What do you do now and tell us about your family.

Stastny: We live in St Louis where I am the Blue's Special Assignment European scout. My wife and I are very proud of our four children. Katrina, our oldest daughter, is on the tennis team at Georgetown University and our son, Yan, is a freshman at Notre Dame University. Our youngest son will be joining Yan at Notre Dame next year. Brother Marion is a manufacturing entrepreneur in Lausanne, Switzerland and Anton owns and operates a golf course in Quebec City. My oldest brother, Vladimir, is an assistant coach with the Slovak national team and I'm the General Manager. I believe if we can get good goal tending we'll win an Olympic medal, maybe even gold.

 

Q: What is your greatest hockey memory?

There are so many playing 22 consecutive seasons of major hockey, winning a world championship, playing with my two brothers. I think I will select a moment from the Battle of Quebec in the mid 80's. It was the seventh game in the Forum of the divisional final. It was overtime and I took the face off against my shadow Guy Carbonneau. I won the draw and got the puck back to Pat Price who shot on the net; the rebound came back to me and I flipped it under the crossbar for the winning goal. That happened at midnight and we got home to Quebec City at 4 AM. There were 10,000 people and twenty miles of cars waiting for us. It was the greatest celebration I've ever witnessed.

 

Q: What about your six All Star games?

The 1976 Canada Cup when we finished just behind Canada who had such a star line up like Hull, Dionne, Perreault, Espo, Orr and Clarke and the 1981 All Star game in LA my first, and winning the Izvestia Tournament right in Moscow; all have special memories for me. Another unusual memory: I went home to Slovakia for a book signing of my book co-authored by Igor Otcenas called "Hockey on 2 Continents" and I signed 20,000 books in a week, and that was work.

 

Q: What about your induction into the NHL Hall of Fame?

That was like a special golden ale—the last chapter—you are there for the ages as a role model, you're a part of history.

 

Q: Any changes necessary in today's hockey?

I like the way they are cracking down on the boarding and slashing and the 4 on 4 over time provides fans with great entertainment. I would like to see them eliminate the red line. It would really help the skilled players display their talents.

 

Note: Peter Stastny was in the top ten in NHL scoring 6 times. He recorded more than a hundred points seven times. He is the second highest European scorer in the NHL. Hockey legend fans will love watching Stastny play. He will still have a flash of brilliance when he plays in your city.