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| 1979 NHL DRAFT PICK |
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Anton Stastny
Selected in fourth round
No.
83 overall by Quebec Nordiques
Born August
5, 1959
 | Position: Left Wing
Height: 6-0 Weight:
185
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| BEFORE THE DRAFT |
Last Team:
Bratislava (Czechoslovakia)
Birthplace: Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Hometown:
Bratislava, Slovakia |
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| PRE-DRAFT
STATISTICS | | Year |
Team | League |
GP | G |
A | TP |
PIM | | 1977-78 |
Bratislava | Czech. |
44 | 19 |
17 | 36 |
22 | | 1978-79 |
Bratislava | Czech. |
44 | 32 |
19 | 51 |
38 |
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PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
World
Championships: 1979 (silver medal)
World Junior Championships: 1978 (fourth),
1979 (silver)
European Junior Championships: 1977 (silver medal)
World Junior Championships All-Star First Team: 1978
Miscellaneous: Won four Czechoslovakian junior championships while playing
for Bratislava junior team. |
| NHL CAREER |
Debut: October 9, 1980 (Quebec at Calgary)
Numbers:
20 (Quebec)
Stanley Cup: Never won.
Playing Status: Retired 1994 |
| CAREER NHL STATISTICS | | Years |
Teams | GP |
G | A |
TP | PIM | | 1980-1989 |
Quebec | 650 |
252 | 384 |
636 | 150 |
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| CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS | | Years |
Teams | GP |
G | A |
TP | PIM | | 1981-1987 |
Quebec | 66 |
20 | 32 |
52 | 31 |
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NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
PREVIOUS DRAFT: 1978 (Philadelphia,
No. 198 overall in Round
12)
NHL Records: Most points in one game by two brothers (16 with Peter
Stastny for Quebec at Washington on Feb. 22, 1981)
Quebec/Colorado
Records: Most goals by a rookie (39 in 1980-81, shares record), most
points in one game (8 at Washington on Feb. 22, 1981, shares record)
Quebec Playoffs
Goals Leader: 1981 (4)
Miscellaneous: His first NHL game was also first in Calgary Flames
history. ... Played on line with Peter Stastny and Jamie Hislop for Quebec in
1979-80. ... Played on line with Peter Stastny and Marian Stastny for Quebec
from 1981-82 through 1983-84. ... Missed part of 1981-82 season with pulled
knee ligaments, suffered in December 1981. ... Missed end of 1985
playoffs with fractured cheekbone. ... Missed parts of 1985-86 season with
back spasms, suffered during Quebec's Nov. 9, 1985, game vs. Hartford, with
fractured toe, suffered in Quebec's Dec. 10, 1985, game at Buffalo, and
with broken ribs, suffered in Quebec's Feb. 1, 1986, game vs.
Philadelphia. ... Released by Quebec after team bought out his contract on May
18, 1989. |
| NON-NHL CAREER |
Post-Draft Teams: Bratislava (Czechoslovakia);
Halifax (AHL); Fribourg-Gotteron, Olten (Switzerland)
Olympics:
1980 (fifth place)
NON-NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
Czechoslovakian Championship:
1979 (Bratislava)
Czechoslovakia All-Star First Team: 1978-79 (Bratislava)
Miscellaneous:
Was able to re-enter NHL draft in 1979 because there had been confusion
about his actual age at the time he was drafted in 1978, and Philadelphia
mistakenly gambled that he was old enough. ... Was first player
born and trained in modern-day Slovakia ever drafted by an NHL team. ...
Played on line with brothers Peter and Marian Stastny for Czech national team
in 1978-79 and 1979-80. ... Earned Canadian citizenship on April 2, 1984,
although later, after the fall of communism in the late 1980s, he would
associate himself with an independent Slovakia. ... Signed two-year contract
with Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland) in May 1989. ... Retired for first time after playing 1991-92 season in Switzerland, but came
out of retirement to play for hometown Bratislava (Slovakia) team in 1993-94.
... Worked as instructor in Swiss hockey schools after his retirement. ...
Became active in Oldtimers' charity hockey after his retirement.
Personal:
Younger brother of Slovakian national team assistant coach Vladimir Stastny, former Czechoslovakian star Bohuslav Stastny and former NHL players Marian Stastny and Peter Stastny. ...
Father of Swiss player Thomas Stastny. ...
Uncle of college hockey players Yan Stastny and Paul Stastny.
Stastny's Defection: Stastny and his brother
Peter defected from their native Czechoslovakia in 1980. In bolting the
communist nation, they risked their lives for the chance to play in the NHL.
The Quebec Nordiques organization played a major role in helping the Stastnys,
as the team had worked on the maneuver since the summer of 1979. Initially,
Quebec hoped that the Stastnys could defect at the 1980 Olympics in Lake
Placid, N.Y., but security had been too tight and prevented Quebec executives
from communicating with the brothers. Several months later, in August 1980,
Quebec president Marcel Aubut and director of player development Gilles Leger
flew to Innsbruck, Austria, to watch the Stastnys play in the European Cup
tournament. Prior to the start of the tournament, Aubut and Leger secretly
checked themselves into the same hotel in which the Stastnys' Slovan
Bratislava team was staying. Bratislava players arrived on Aug. 20, and the
two executives passed word to the Stastnys that they were also in the hotel.
Two days later, on Aug. 22, 1980, the Stastnys slipped away from Bratislava
team officials and went to the Quebec executives' hotel rooms. The group
agreed that the Stastnys would play for Bratislava in the championship game
against the Soviets on Aug. 24, and would then flee the country with Aubut,
Leger and Peter Stastny's pregnant wife, Darina. On Sunday, Aug. 24, the
Soviets won the title game 11-1, and the brothers hurried back to the hotel
with Darina Stastny. They were met there by Aubut and Leger, and the group of
five slipped out of the hotel and drove to Vienna. They went Vienna's Canadian
Embassy, which had already prepared defection papers for the brothers.
Austrian police then escorted the group to the Vienna airport, and they were
flown to Amsterdam. They later flew to Montreal, arriving on Monday, Aug. 26.
Although many assumed the Stastnys came to North America to escape Iron
Curtain tyranny, they would later say that their ultimate motivation for
seeking political asylum in Canada was a desire to get away from their
Bratislava coach and to play for a team that was serious about winning. One
year later, Nordiques officials negotiated with the Czech hockey federation
for the release of the Stastnys' older brother Marian. By that time, Marian
had already paid a price for his brothers' actions, because the federation
made him sit out the 1980-81 season so he couldn't defect. |
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|
SNAPSHOT '79 | | Total Selected: |
126 | | Forwards: |
74 | | Defense: |
41 | | Goaltenders: |
11 | | Major Junior: |
97 | | College Players: |
15 |
| Canadian: |
109 |
| Euro-Canadian: |
1 | | USA Citizens: |
10 | | U.S.-Born: |
10 |
| European: |
6 |
| Reached NHL: |
103 |
| Won Stanley Cup: |
23 | | Hall of Fame: |
3 |
| All-Star Game: |
23 |
| Year-end All-Star: |
10 |
| Olympians: |
15 |
| Picks Traded: |
17 |
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