Pavol Demitra, Slovakian ice hockey player (b. 1974)
Pavol Demitra (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpaʋɔl ˈdemitra]; 29 November 1974 – 7 September 2011) was a Slovak professional ice hockey player. He played nineteen seasons of professional hockey, for teams in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League (CSL), National Hockey League (NHL), Slovak Extraliga (SVK), and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). A skilled offensive player, Demitra was a top-line forward throughout his career.
After a season with HC Dukla Trenčín in the CSL, Demitra was selected 227th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He subsequently left Slovakia to join the Senators organization, spending three seasons split between team and their American Hockey League affiliate. A contract holdout at the start of the 1996–97 season saw Demitra traded to the St. Louis Blues. Demitra had his most successful seasons with St. Louis, being selected for three NHL All-Star Games and winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2000. He scored at least 30 goals three times and 90 points once while with the Blues. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Demitra returned to HC Dukla Trenčín for, and upon returning to the NHL the following year, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings. After one season with Los Angeles, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he played for two further seasons before signing with the Vancouver Canucks, and spent his last two NHL seasons with the team. In 2010 Demitra signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, playing one season there before dying in the 2011 air crash that involved most of the team prior to the 2011–12 KHL season.
Internationally, Demitra played in junior tournaments with the Czechoslovakian national junior team. He won a gold medal at the 1992 IIHF European U18 Championship and a bronze medal at the 1993 IIHF World U20 Championship. After the country split in 1993, Demitra began competing for Slovakia. Beginning in 1996, he played in six IIHF World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003 and captaining his country in 2011. He also played in the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Demitra also played in three Winter Olympics: 2002, 2006 (where he was captain of the Slovak team), and 2010, where he led all scorers in points and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team.