Paul Stastny

Paul Stastny (born 27 December 1985, Quebec City, Quebec ) is a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey player of Slovak origin. He currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche in the National Hockey League on the position of the center. He comes from a very successful hockey family; his father Peter is since 1998 a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, his two uncles Anton and Marian were also successful in the NHL go.

• 2.1 International

• 3.1 International

Career

Paul Stastny began his career in 2002 at the River City Lancers in the United States Hockey League, the highest league in junior hockey in the United States. In his second and final year for the team he scored 77 points scorer in 56 games. From 2004, he attended the University of Denver and played for their hockey team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In his first year he won the college championship with Denver and he has been honored as the best rookie of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and elected to the Final Four All- Tournament team by the NCAA.

Due to its good performance in the NHL Entry Draft, the striker in 2005 was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round at 44th overall position. However, he played another year at the University of Denver, where the center along with Matt Carle led the top scorer scoring his team. Before the NHL season 2006/ 07, no one assumed that Stastny would make the direct jump to the NHL team, but in one of the farm teams of the Avalanche experience would collect. Because of heart problems by Steve Konowalchuk and the resulting therefrom retirement from sport but a place in the team of the avalanche was released, the Stastny is secured due to strong performances in training. So he gave his debut this season in professional hockey and quickly developed into a mainstay in the team. His first goal came from the center-forward on 21 October 2006, with the Avalanche game against the Montreal Canadiens.

With an assist in the game against the Minnesota Wild on March 11, 2007, he broke the 15 year-old record of the rookies with the longest points series. This record was previously held by Teemu Selanne. In total he scored on 3 February to 17 March in 20 consecutive games at least a point per game. During this period, Stastny scored 29 points; over the entire season, he was able to reach 28 goals and 50 assists and was second with 78 points best rookie scorer behind Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who scored seven points more. Nevertheless, the Colorado Avalanche missed the play-offs. For his achievements Stastny was elected to the All- Rookie NHL team, he also was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the best Neuprofi, but the trophy was awarded Evgeni Malkin.

In the following season he was missing due to appendicitis and a groin injury for 16 games because of appendicitis he had to cancel his participation in the Game All-Star. Nevertheless, he finished the regular season as Colorado's best scorer, scoring 71 points in 66 games. In this season he first participated with Colorado in the NHL play-offs, but there he could not keep his points quota. The striker scored twice in nine games and scored a total of three points before the Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals against the eventual Stanley Cup retired champion Detroit Red Wings.

On November 17, 2008 Paul Stastny signed a five year contract, which was valid at the start of season 2009/10. Shortly after signing the contract he broke during a game against the Phoenix Coyotes left arm as he blocked a shot by Olli Jokinen and was missing for 26 games. After eleven other games he broke in the game against the Minnesota Wild a foot again after he wanted to block a shot, so it turned out for the rest of the season. So he came in the 2008 /09 to only 45 of 82 possible missions, in which he scored 36 points.

The following season was for Stastny quite successful, he could - with the exception of a game at the end of the season, in which he was spared - again by playing a season, won the U.S. national hockey team a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the Colorado Avalanche again reached the play-offs, which we missed last year. There, however, the team already retired on the first round against the San Jose Sharks. The Americans with 79 points from 81 games in the regular season again the best scorer of the Avalanche.

In the NHL season of 2010/11, the attacker first participated in a NHL All-Star Game. He replaced together with Carolinas Jeff Skinner injured Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. This season Colorado failed to qualify for the play- offs, Stastny finished the season as the second best scorer of the team behind Matt Duchene. In the following season, Paul Stastny second best points scorer of the Avalanche, Ryan O'Reilly scored only center more points than him.

During the lockout before the start of the NHL season 2012/13 he completed 13 games for EHC München in the German Ice Hockey League. After the NHL game its operation in January 2013 resumed, the center was still in 40 games for Colorado for use; his 24 scored points scorer was the third most within the team behind PA Parenteau and Matt Duchene.

Internationally

The center forward, who has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship and was allowed to choose accordingly, which of the two teams he could play, chose the team of the United States. On the one hand, to have the opportunity to work with his brother Yan to play together in an international tournament, as he had already decided before Paul for the U.S. and on the other, since he grew up in the United States and since his childhood in the United States Hockey League played. Paul Stastny held the U.S. national hockey team for the first time at the Ice Hockey World Championship for Men 2007. However, the team missed a medal and was eliminated in the quarterfinals against the Finnish national ice hockey team from the tournament. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he won with his team the silver medal after they lost to the Canadians in the final. At the 2012 World Championships Stastny retired from the U.S. selection in the quarterfinals.

At the World Championships in 2013 in Stockholm and Helsinki, he ran on as team captain of Team USA and won the bronze medal with this. Stastny came in all ten games and was used with 15 scorer points behind the Finn Petri Kontiola second best scorer of the tournament. In addition, he was chosen by media representatives in the All- Star team of the tournament.

Awards and achievements

• 2005 NCAA Championship
• 2005 NCAA Final Four All- Tournament Team
• 2005 WCHA rookie of the year
• 2006 WCHA - leading scorer of the year

• 2007 NHL Rookie of the Month February
• 2007 NHL All- Rookie Team
• 2008 NHL All -Star Game ( injury-related cancellation )
• 2011 NHL All -Star Game

Internationally

• 2010 Silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games
• 2013 bronze medal at the World Championships
• 2013 All- Star Team of the World Cup

Career Stats

Internationally

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )

Family

Paul Stastny comes from a Slovak family, the great NHL experience. His father Peter Šťastný went to North America in 1980, where he played for the Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues since 1984 and has the Canadian nationality. In 977 NHL games, he scored 1239 points and was one of the best strikers in the NHL in the eighties. In 1998, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament as MP for Slovakia.

Paul has two uncles Anton and Marian. Anton played 650 times in the NHL for Quebec and came to 636 points, Marián played 322 games for Quebec City and Toronto Maple Leafs, but he scored 294 points scorer. His older brother Yan is also a professional hockey player and was drafted in 2002 by the Boston Bruins.

After Yan played at the World Championships in 2005 for the U.S. team, the Šťastnýs are the only hockey family that has participated for four different countries in international tournaments. Father Peter first played for Czechoslovakia, took in 1984 with Canada at the Canada Cup in part, after he had obtained Canadian citizenship and played in the nineties for Slovakia, among others, at the Olympic Winter Games 1994.

Jersey number

Paul Stastny began his career with the Colorado Avalanche with the jersey number 62, but on October 20 he moved to number 26, John -Michael Liles, who began the season with the 26, she left Stastny and instead chose the number 4 of his idol Rob Blake. The reason for this was that Paul's father Peter Šťastný in his time for the franchise, which was still based in Quebec and in 1995 moved to Colorado, the number had worn 26 and now Paul she wears as a tribute to his father. When the team still Quebec Nordiques was said that the number 26 has been locked to Peter Šťastnýs honor and give more to any player, but after moving to Colorado, the number was released.

Play

Stastny is a left-handed center was up to the NHL season 2010/11 one of the few players who still have a bat made ​​of wood used. , But at the beginning of this season, he moved to a bat made ​​of plastic. He describes himself as a playmaker, a characteristic he inherited his own words of his father, Peter Šťastný. The long-time captain of the Avalanche, Joe Sakic, already played with Hockey Hall of Famer Peter together with the Quebec Nordiques and sees similarities between father and son, especially to skate in their nature and their ability to keep track of during the game. Similar words also came from Joel Quenneville who defended during his playing days as a player against Peter. In his youth he was to have perceived to be too slow to get immediate success in the NHL. Even if his game is not characterized by tricks or special movements, but it is considered smart, intuitive and efficient.