This Day in Hockey History – September 16, 1998 – Peter Stastny Enters the Hall

For those who were born after 1991, they have never known a world with the great Soviet Union, communism and the Iron Curtain. To them hockey teams just naturally have players from Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, among other Eastern European countries. However, for many, the Cold War impacted everything, including the hockey they watched.

For Peter Stastny and his family, the Soviet Union invaded his beloved Czechoslovakia in August of 1968.

“Earlier that evening [August 21, 1968], two Soviet aircraft touched down at Prague’s Ruzyne airport, where several armed troops proceeded to take over the main terminal. From there, about 500 tanks rolled into the country as airships dropped leaflets from the sky explaining the peaceful intentions of these forces. In total, 27 divisions, including 5,000 armored vehicles and 800 aircraft coming from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, and Hungrary, swept through the country in a single day. Czech military were ordered to avoid armed resistance, and all of Czechoslovakia was overtaken within 24 hours,” Tal Pinchevsky described in his book Breakaway, From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL—The Untold Stories of Hockey’s Great Escapes.

“They were the enemy; the hated ones. They were so big, and we were just a tiny speck,” Stastny described. “But in the hockey rink, it was different. We were on even terms.”

Stastny played on the Czechoslovakian national teams that beat the U.S.S.R. team in both the 1976 and 1977 IIHF World Championships. Peter and his older brother Marian combined for ten goals and 18 points in the 1976 World Championships. And they added an assist when it came to the 1977 games, recording ten goals and 19 points. They would continue to impress in 1978 and then they were joined by their younger brother Anton in 1979. The three of them became heroes of their country, however issues within the national team had the brothers seriously considering defecting.

Peter, his wife, and his brother Anton would do just that while their club team HC Slovan Bratislava was in Innsbruck, Austria for a tournament in August of 1980. Peter called the Quebec Nordiques and the very next day their general manager, Marcel Aubut and their director of player development Gilles Leger were in Innsbruck to spirit the three of them away. The harrowing experience, the Stastnys’ arrival in Canada and their difficulties assimilating read like a spy novel.

Peter and Anton played for the Quebec Nordiques and they became the first NHL regulars from a country behind the Iron Curtain. Their brother Marian joined them a year later.

Peter would play ten seasons with the Nordiques, wearing the C the last five. He went on to play four seasons with the New Jersey Devils and then two with the St. Louis Blues, for a total of 16 seasons in the NHL.

On September 16, 1998, he became one of the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Also, in the same class with him was his Nordiques teammate Michel Goulet.

What the Stastny brothers did, opened a door that many hockey players on teams behind the Iron Curtain didn’t think could ever open. Peter became a Canadian citizen and played for Team Canada in their Canada Cup win in 1984. In 1994, Stastny represented the newly separated Slovakia in the Olympics. Not only was he captain of the team, but he carried the flag during the opening ceremonies.

“That was something more than a dream, carrying the flay for my new country,” he said.

His sons Yan, who was born in Canada, and Paul, who was born in the United States, have played internationally representing Team USA. They also have both played in the NHL. Peter Stastny’s family has the distinction of being the first family to represent four separate countries in international hockey.

Not only did his defection change hockey, but his style of hockey and level of skill became a benchmark when it came to European-trained NHL players. But like hockey players the world over, he defers such accolades. Humbleness and hockey know no borders.

When he retired, he had played 977 NHL regular season games, amassing 450 goals, 789 assists for 1,239 points. His playoff numbers in 93 games were 33 goals, 72 assists and 105 points. In addition to the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame the very next season.

Additional Sources:

• Tal Pinchevsky, Breakaway, From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL—The Untold Stories of Hockey’s Great Escapes (Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., 2012), kindle edition
• 100 Greatest NHL Players: Peter Stastny