Paul Stastny

Paul Stastny

Paul Stastny is a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey centre. He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Šťastný, who played for Colorado Avalanche’s predecessor, the Quebec Nordiques. Paul is also the nephew of retired NHL players Anton and Marián Šʼnastná.

About Paul Stastny in brief

Summary Paul StastnyPaul Stastny is a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey centre. He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Šťastný, who played for Colorado Avalanche’s predecessor, the Quebec Nordiques. His uncles Anton and Marián played in the NHL during the 1980s, also for the Nordiques, and his older brother Yan has played for Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues. He also has two sisters, Katarina and Kristina. Paul has chosen to play for the U.S. in international hockey competitions, which have included the 2004 Viking Cup, the 2007 IIHF World Championship, and the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. He was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy in his rookie season and was named to his first NHL All-Star Game, but didn’t play because of an appendectomy. Paul currently ranks fourth in all-time scoring by a father-son combination with a total of 463 points. Paul is also the nephew of retired NHL players Anton and Marián Šʼnastná, who both played for the Nordiques from 1981 to 1985. Paul’s father Peter and Anton were the first two out of the three brothers to come to North America, in 1980; they were smuggled, along with Peter’s pregnant wife, out of Czechoslovakia to Austria. All three played for Quebec from 1981–1985, which was only the third time that three brothers played for the same team at the same time.

Paul spent his early years in Quebec and New Jersey, following his father’s career. Paul played high school hockey for Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, Missouri during his freshman and sophomore years in high school. He then moved to Omaha, Nebraska to play Tier I junior hockey for the River City Lancers of the United States Hockey League during this last two years of high school, graduating from Millard North High School in Omaha. In 2002, he won the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in his first season playing for the University of Denver Pioneers. He signed a contract with the Avalanche before the 2006–07 NHL season, scoring 78 points in 82 games in his debut season. In his second season with the Jets, he scored 107 points in 113 games for two seasons, scoring 107 points for the team in the 2003–04 Clark Cup final against the Lincoln Stars. In the 2003-04 season, he also won the Lancers’ West Division championship with the fourth-place finish in the West Division and progressed to the fourth round of the playoffs in the regular season. He played in his third and final season of junior hockey with the Lancer’s Tier III Junior B St.Louis Jr. Blues. Paul was born in Quebec City, Quebec, to a mother with American citizenship, and has dual CanadianU. S. citizenship.