Pavol Demitra

Playing career

Demitra initially played soccer, like his father, and began focusing on hockey at age 15. He started at the senior level with ZŤS Dubnica in Czechoslovakia's second-tier league, recording 23 points in 28 games. The following season, he joined HC Dukla Trenčín of the premier Czechoslovak Extraliga in 1992–93, scoring 11 goals and 28 points in 46 games. After the season, the Ottawa Senators selected him 227th overall in the 1993 NHL entry draft.

In his first NHL game on 9 October 1993, Demitra scored on St. Louis Blues goaltender Curtis Joseph. He played 12 games for Ottawa that season, with a goal and two points, but spent most of the year with the Prince Edward Island Senators of the AHL, recording 41 points in 41 games. The following season he had 74 points in 61 AHL games and four goals and seven points in 16 NHL games. In 1995–96, after 81 points in 48 AHL games, he was recalled to Ottawa permanently, where he had seven goals and 17 points in 31 games.

To start 1996–97, Demitra held out with Ottawa, played a game with HC Dukla Trenčín, then joined the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL, recording eight goals and 21 points in 22 games. On 27 November 1996, Ottawa traded him to the St. Louis Blues for Christer Olsson.

International play

Demitra was named to Team Slovakia for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. On 18 February 2010, he scored in the seventh round of a shootout to help Slovakia beat Russia. In the semi-finals against Canada, Slovakia trailed 3–0 after two periods but rallied with two goals in the third period; Demitra nearly scored with nine seconds remaining, but his shot was stopped by Canucks teammate Roberto Luongo. In the bronze medal game against Finland, Demitra assisted twice and scored once in the second period to give Slovakia a 3–1 lead, but Finland scored four times in the third period to claim bronze.

Demitra led the tournament in points with 10 and tied for the lead in assists with seven, earning a selection to the all-star team. He also played for Czechoslovakia at the 1992 European Junior Championships and 1993 World Junior Championships, winning a bronze medal. For Slovakia, he competed in six IIHF World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003, and captained the team in 2011. He played in the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and in the 2002, 2006 (as captain), and 2010 Winter Olympics.

Death

On 7 September 2011, a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft carrying Demitra and his Lokomotiv Yaroslavl teammates crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, on its way to Minsk, Belarus. The airplane caught fire and crashed shortly after take-off, four kilometers from Tunoshna airport. Preliminary reports stated that 43 of the 45 passengers were killed, including 35 affiliated with the club; the remaining passenger, Alexander Galimov, died a few days later. Demitra was survived by his wife Maja and two children, Lucas and Zara, and was predeceased by his infant son, Tobias. The elementary school in Dubnica nad Váhom he attended and the ice hockey stadium in Trenčín were named after him.