Pavol Demitra

Pavol Demitra (29 November 1974 – 7 September 2011) was a Slovak professional ice hockey player.

He played nineteen seasons of professional hockey, for teams in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League (CSL), National Hockey League (NHL), Slovak Extraliga (SVK), and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

A skilled offensive player, Demitra was a top-line forward throughout his career.

He won a gold medal at the 1992 IIHF European U18 Championship and a bronze medal at the 1993 IIHF World U20 Championship.

The following season, Demitra joined HC Dukla Trenčín of the premier Czechoslovak Extraliga in 1992–93, where he scored 11 goals and 28 points in 46 games.

After a season with HC Dukla Trenčín in the CSL, Demitra was selected 227th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators.

He subsequently left Slovakia to join the Senators organization, spending three seasons split between team and their American Hockey League affiliate.

After the country split in 1993, Demitra began competing for Slovakia.

After the season, Demitra was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the ninth round, 227th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

He came to be considered one of the best draft steals in NHL history.

Demitra began the 1993–94 season with the Ottawa Senators, and in his first NHL game on 9 October 1993, Demitra scored on St. Louis Blues goaltender Curtis Joseph for his first NHL goal and point.

He played in 12 games for Ottawa during the season, scoring a goal and two points.

Demitra mainly spent the season with Ottawa's American Hockey League affiliate, the Prince Edward Island Senators.

In 41 AHL games Demitra recorded 41 points, sixth on the team.

He spent most of the following season in the AHL, scoring 74 points in 61 games.

Demitra also spent time with Ottawa, as he scored four goals and seven points in 16 games.

He began the 1995–96 season in the AHL, but after scoring 81 points in 48 games was recalled to Ottawa permanently.

With Ottawa, Demitra had seven goals and 17 points in 31 games.

A contract holdout at the start of the 1996–97 season saw Demitra traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Beginning in 1996, he played in six IIHF World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003 and captaining his country in 2011.

He also played in the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

To start the 1996–97 season, Demtira was a contract hold-out with Ottawa.

He played a game with HC Dukla Trenčín of the Slovak Extraliga, getting a goal and two points, before joining the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL.

With the Thunder, Demitra had eight goals and 21 points in 22 games.

On 27 November 1996, the Senators parted ways with Demitra, as Ottawa traded him to the St. Louis Blues for Christer Olsson.

The St. Louis Blues assigned Demitra to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL, where in 42 games, Demitra had 20 goals and 50 points.

He was called up to the Blues, and played his first game with the club on 17 March 1997, getting no points in a 3–2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Demitra scored his first two goals with St. Louis on 3 April 1997, scoring twice against Tommy Salo in a 5–5 tie with the New York Islanders.

He finished the season appearing in eight games with St. Louis, scoring three goals.

Demitra made his NHL playoff debut on 16 April 1997, recording his first playoff point, an assist, in the Blues 2–0 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

On 22 April 1997, Demitra scored his first playoff goal, beating Red Wings goaltender Mike Vernon, and added two assists in a 4–0 win over Detroit.

Demitra had his most successful seasons with St. Louis, being selected for three NHL All-Star Games and winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2000.

He scored at least 30 goals three times and 90 points once while with the Blues.

Demitra also played in three Winter Olympics: 2002, 2006 (where he was captain of the Slovak team), and 2010, where he led all scorers in points and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team.

Initially a soccer player, like his father (who played professionally), Demitra only began to focus on hockey when he was 15.

Demitra began playing at the senior level with ZŤS Dubnica in Czechoslovakia's second-tier league; he recorded 23 points (13 goals and 10 assists) over 28 games.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Demitra returned to HC Dukla Trenčín for, and upon returning to the NHL the following year, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings.

After one season with Los Angeles, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he played for two further seasons before signing with the Vancouver Canucks, and spent his last two NHL seasons with the team.

In 2010 Demitra signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, playing one season there before dying in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that involved most of the team prior to the 2011–12 KHL season.

Internationally, Demitra played in junior tournaments with the Czechoslovak national junior team.