About Peter Šťastný
Peter Šťastný (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpeter ˈʂcastniː]; 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 70 assists and 100 total 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 1989–90 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. Peter and Anton share the rookie record for points in a game, with 8, which they accomplished in the same game against the Washington Capitals on February 22, 1981. During his time with the Quebec Nordiques, Šťastný became a Canadian citizen.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.