Miroslav Šatan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Left Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 191 lb (87 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
New York Islanders Edmonton Oilers Buffalo Sabres |
| Nationality |  Slovakia |
| Born | October 22, 1974, Topoľčany, CS |
| NHL Draft | 111th overall, 1993 Edmonton Oilers |
| Pro Career | 1994 – present |
Miroslav Šatan (born October 22, 1974 in Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia) is a professional ice hockey player who plays for the New York Islanders. The proper Slovak pronunciation of his name is SHAH-tahn (IPA: ['ʃatan]), but North Americans usually pronounce it "Shuh-TAN" (IPA: [ʃə'tæn]). He and wife Ingrid have a son, Miroslav Jr., born in March, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Satan was drafted 111th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Prior to his entry into the NHL, he played in the Czechoslovak and Slovak leagues and he had scored 9 goals in 8 games representing Slovakia at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.
In 1994-95, Satan played a season in the minor leagues, split between four teams including the Oilers' farm club in Cape Breton and the IHL's Detroit Vipers. While with the Vipers, he scored the winning goal in an exhibition game against Wayne Gretzky's Ninety-Niners, an all-star team put together by Gretzky during the 1994 NHL lockout.
After two seasons with the Oilers, the highly skilled winger was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore. He firmly established himself as a top-line forward and one of the key players of the Buffalo team. During the 2004-2005 NHL labor dispute, Satan played for HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak League. He signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Islanders on August 3, 2005.
His 35 goals during the 2005-06 season were his highest goal-output since the 2001-02 season, with the Buffalo Sabres. Almost half his 35 goals came on the power play (17), also a career personal best. He led the Islanders in goals in the 2005-06 season. Satan tied for the team lead in points with 66, shared with captain Alexei Yashin. Also in 2005-06, Satan went 7-for-10 (70%) and was third in the league in shooting percentage in the shootout.
On December 2, 2006, he scored his 300th career goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Earlier in the season he had recorded his 300th career assist and his 600th career point.
On March 24, 2007, Satan missed the Islanders' game in Philadelphia for personal reasons, ending a streak of having played in 305 consecutive games. It was the fourth longest active streak at the time, and marked the second time in his career that he has played over 250 consecutive games. He had a 256 game streak as a Buffalo Sabre that ended in November 2002.
[edit] Awards
- Played in NHL All-Star Game - 2000
[edit] Records
- Six times best on Buffalo Sabres team in points scored
- 10th place on Buffalo Sabres all-time scoring list with 224 goals and 232 assists (7th in goals scored)
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1992-93 | Trenčín | Czech | 38 | 11 | 6 | 17 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | Trenčín | Slovakia | 30 | 32 | 16 | 48 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Cape Breton | AHL | 25 | 24 | 16 | 40 | 15 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Detroit | IHL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Detroit | UHL | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | San Diego | IHL | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995-96 | Edmonton | NHL | 62 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996-97 | Edmonton | NHL | 64 | 17 | 11 | 28 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996-97 | Buffalo | NHL | 12 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1997-98 | Buffalo | NHL | 79 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 34 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1998-99 | Buffalo | NHL | 81 | 40 | 26 | 66 | 44 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1999-00 | Trenčín | Slovakia | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Buffalo | NHL | 81 | 33 | 34 | 67 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2000-01 | Buffalo | NHL | 82 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 36 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 2001-02 | Buffalo | NHL | 82 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 33 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Buffalo | NHL | 79 | 26 | 49 | 75 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Slovan | Slovakia | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 41 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Buffalo | NHL | 82 | 29 | 28 | 57 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | Slovan | Slovakia | 18 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005-06 | NY Islanders | NHL | 82 | 35 | 31 | 66 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006-07 | NY Islanders | NHL | 53 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 34 | |||||||
| NHL Totals | 839 | 311 | 314 | 625 | 365 | 51 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 14 | ||||
Stats as of February 5th, 2007
[edit] International play
Played for Slovakia in:
- 1994 Winter Olympic Games
- World Championships - 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 (silver medal), 2002 (gold medal), 2003 (bronze medal), 2004, 2005
- World Cup of Hockey - 1996, 2004
- Team Slovakia - 116 caps / 69 goals
[edit] Trivia
Several popular sports websites currently assign him the ID number 666 in their player biography databases (visible in the URL), likely as a joke about his last name, which in Anglicized spelling is Satan.
An unsubstantiated (and untrue) rumor that he wanted to change his number to 666 led to the NHL adopting a rule stating that players could only wear whole numbers from 1-98 (99 being retired in honor of Wayne Gretzky). The rule is sometimes nicknamed the "Biron Rule" after Satan's then-teammate, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Martin Biron, who was the only player affected (he wore "00" and had to change to "43").
During the 2003-2004 NHL season, the Buffalo Sabres rotated their captaincy on a monthly basis. Satan served as captain in October 2003.
During his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres, a very popular t-shirt among fans of the team featured a stylized silhouette of Satan with "devil horns" on the back, and the words "Jesus Saves, Satan Scores" on the front.
The New Jersey Devils were among the teams trying to sign him as a free agent after he left Buffalo, even jokingly offering him the captainship (the mythical Satan being the "captain of the devils").
Sabres play-by-play commentator Rick Jeanneret referred to Satan as 'The Little Devil.'
Some signs have been seen at arenas that say "Hail Satan" and "Satan is God" when he plays.
[edit] External links
- ESPN - Sabres Renounce Satan (2005)
- Yahoo Sports - Satan is # 666
- Miroslav Satan's profile at www.legendsofhockey.net
| Preceded by Stu Barnes |
Buffalo Sabres captains October 2003 |
Succeeded by Chris Drury |
Categories: 1974 births | Living people | Buffalo Sabres players | Cape Breton Oilers players | Detroit Vipers players | Edmonton Oilers draft picks | Edmonton Oilers players | Hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics | National Hockey League All-Stars | New York Islanders players | Olympic competitors for Slovakia | San Diego Gulls players | Slovak ice hockey players
