Patrik Štefan
Born (1980-09-16) 16 September 1980
Příbram, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Sparta Praha
Long Beach Ice Dogs
Atlanta Thrashers
Chicago Wolves
Ilves
Dallas Stars
SC Bern
National team  Czech Republic
NHL Draft 1st overall, 1999
Atlanta Thrashers
Playing career 1996–2007

Patrik Štefan (born 16 September 1980) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who was drafted first pick overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Prior to being drafted by the Thrashers, Štefan played for Sparta Praha in the Czech Republic, and the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the IHL.

Štefan played six seasons for the Atlanta Thrashers scoring 177 points. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Štefan played for Ilves Tampere in the SM-liiga. In 37 games, Štefan collected a total of 41 points including 28 assists. In the playoffs, Štefan had six assists and a goal in seven games.

On 24 June 2006, Štefan was traded to the Dallas Stars along with Jaroslav Modrý for Niko Kapanen and a 7th round draft pick in 2006.

Empty net blunder

Štefan earned significant notoriety on 4 January 2007 for a blunder during a game against the Edmonton Oilers. With seconds left in the game, and Dallas already ahead by a goal, Štefan gained possession of the puck and found himself on a breakaway towards an empty net. Štefan continued skating towards the crease rather than immediately shooting, then attempted a casual backhand into the net from close quarters. The puck hit bad ice and bounced up and over his stick, causing him to miss the goal, trip, and fall against the ice.[1] To compound the error, he then cleared the puck in the direction of the Oilers. This allowed a play to develop where fellow Czech Aleš Hemský scored with two seconds remaining to tie the game 5-5; ultimately, Dallas won in a shootout.

After Štefan's contract expired in 2007, the Stars chose not to re-sign him. Štefan signed with SC Bern of the Nationalliga A, but he only played three games for them before retiring in October 2007, largely due to a serious hip injury, the latest of several chronic injuries that plagued his career.[2] He is currently a player agent in the Detroit area, and a youth coach with 15U Little Caesars Hockey.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 HC Sparta Praha ELH 5 0 1 1 2 7 1 0 1 0
1997–98 HC Sparta Praha ELH 27 2 6 8 16 — — — — —
1997–98 Long Beach Ice Dogs IHL 25 5 10 15 10 10 1 1 2 2
1998–99 Long Beach Ice Dogs IHL 33 11 24 35 26 — — — — —
1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 72 5 20 25 30 — — — — —
2000–01 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 66 10 21 31 22 — — — — —
2001–02 Chicago Wolves AHL 5 3 0 3 0 — — — — —
2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 59 7 16 23 22 — — — — —
2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 71 13 21 34 12 — — — — —
2003–04 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 82 14 26 40 26 — — — — —
2004–05 Ilves SM-l 37 13 28 41 47 7 1 6 7 4
2005–06 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 64 10 14 24 36 — — — — —
2006–07 Dallas Stars NHL 41 5 6 11 10 — — — — —
2007–08 SC Bern NLA 3 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 455 64 124 188 158 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1996 Czech Republic EJC 5 1 2 3 4
1997 Czech Republic EJC 6 3 1 4 6
1998 Czech Republic WJC 7 1 1 2 4
2006 Czech Republic WC 9 1 0 1 4
Junior totals 18 5 4 9 14
Senior totals 9 1 0 1 4

Honours and achievements

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stars win in shootout after late blunder costs them lead". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Patrik Stefan retires from hockey
  3. ↑ George Sipple. "Ex-NHL top pick moves to Hockeytown to be agent, coach". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
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