Anton Šťastný

Anton Šťastný (born August 5, 1959) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey left winger who played nine seasons with the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 until 1989. He was the first player born and trained in Slovakia to be drafted by an NHL team. He is the brother of Vladimír, Bohumil, Eva, Marián, and Peter Šťastný, and the uncle of Yan Stastny and Paul Stastny (both Peter's sons), all of whom have been involved in ice hockey at a professional level. Anton's son, Thomas Šťastný, played in Switzerland, last for Martigny in 2015.

Playing career

Šťastný was originally drafted 198th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, but the selection was ruled invalid after it was determined Šťastný was too young to be drafted. He re-entered and was drafted 83rd overall by the Nordiques in the 1979 NHL entry draft. He played 650 career NHL games, scoring 252 goals and 384 assists for 636 points and scored at least 25 goals in eight consecutive seasons.

He played his first nine seasons alongside his brother Peter, four of which were also played alongside Marián. They were the third trio of brothers to play on the same professional hockey team (the first being the Bentley brothers of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1940s and the second being the Plager brothers of the St. Louis Blues in the 1970s). He ranks tenth overall in NHL points by a Slovak player. Anton and Peter 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. Two days earlier, they each recorded six points against the Vancouver Canucks. These two games, played two days apart, are four out of the eleven total instances in which rookies have recorded at least six points in a game.

Personal life Anton was born in Bratislava, the fifth son of Stanislav and Frantiska. His two older brothers, Vladimir (born 1945) and Bohumil (born 1947) were born when the family still lived in the village of Pružina, about 170 kilometres northeast of Bratislava. They moved to Bratislava before the birth of Marián (1953), Peter (1956), and Eva (1966). Stanislav worked for a state-run company that built hydro-electric dams until 1980 when he retired, and mainly dealt with managing inventory. Frantiska stayed at home and raised the children.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1977–78 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 44 19 17 36 22 — — — — — 1978–79 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 44 32 19 51 38 — — — — — 1979–80 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava TCH 40 30 30 60 33 — — — — — 1980–81 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 39 46 85 12 5 4 3 7 2 1981–82 Quebec Nordiques NHL 68 26 46 72 16 16 5 10 15 10 1982–83 Quebec Nordiques NHL 79 32 60 92 25 4 2 2 4 0 1983–84 Quebec Nordiques NHL 69 25 37 62 14 9 2 5 7 7 1984–85 Quebec Nordiques NHL 79 38 42 80 30 16 3 3 6 6 1985–86 Quebec Nordiques NHL 74 31 43 74 19 3 1 1 2 0 1986–87 Quebec Nordiques NHL 77 27 35 62 8 13 3 8 11 6 1987–88 Quebec Nordiques NHL 69 27 45 72 14 — — — — — 1988–89 Quebec Nordiques NHL 55 7 30 37 12 — — — — — 1988–89 Halifax Citadels AHL 16 9 5 14 4 — — — — — 1989–90 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NDA 36 25 22 47 — 3 3 4 7 — 1990–91 EHC Olten NDA 36 26 14 40 — 10 10 16 26 — 1991–92 EHC Olten NDA 33 20 19 39 66 8 10 6 16 22 1993–94 HC Slovan Bratislava SVK 11 6 8 14 2 — — — — — TCH totals 128 81 66 147 93 — — — — — NHL totals 650 252 384 636 150 66 20 32 52 31

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1977 Czechoslovakia EJC 6 6 2 8 0 1978 Czechoslovakia WJC 6 4 2 6 4 1979 Czechoslovakia WJC 6 3 4 7 6 1979 Czechoslovakia WC 8 5 1 6 2 1980 Czechoslovakia OLY 6 4 4 8 2 Junior totals 18 13 8 21 10 Senior totals 14 9 5 14 4