Patrik Štefan

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Position	Center
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
NHL Team F. Teams	Dallas Stars Atlanta Thrashers
Nationality	Czech Republic
Born	September 16, 1980, Příbram, CS
NHL Draft	1st overall, 1999 Atlanta Thrashers
Pro Career	1996 – present

Patrik Štefan (September 16, 1980 in Příbram, Czechoslovakia) is a professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.

[edit] Career

Patrik Štefan was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, First Overall. This draft is considered by some as one of the weakest pools of talent in league history.

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

Patrik played six seasons for the Atlanta Thrashers scoring 177 points. During the 04-05 NHL lockout Patrik played for Ilves Tampere in the SM-liiga. In 37 games the centre collected a total of 41 points including 28 assists. In the playoffs Štefan had six assists and a goal in seven games for a total of seven points.

On June 24, 2006 after failing to live up to his number 1 overall pick expectations , Štefan was traded to the Dallas Stars along with Jaroslav Modry for Niko Kapanen and a 7th round draft pick in 2006.

On 07 January 2007, with 15 seconds left in a game versus the Edmonton Oilers, Štefan stole the puck on the Oiler blue line after a fanned pass by defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron. Štefan then stick handled the puck to within a few feet of the empty Edmonton net only to have it hop over his blade and go past the net. As he tried to recover the puck, he lost an edge and fell into the boards, leaving the puck free for Jarret Stoll to recover. Stoll passed the puck up ice to Ryan Smyth, who dished it off to Ales Hemsky in the slot, who then scored on Marty Turco with 2 seconds left. Dallas eventually won in a shootout, despite the shocking events in the final half minute of the third period.

Ales Hemsky scores with 2 seconds left

[edit] Career Statistics

                                  Regular Season              
Season  Team                    Lge   GP   G   A    Pts  PIM   
    
1999-00 Atlanta Thrashers       NHL   72   5   20   25   30 
2000-01 Atlanta Thrashers       NHL   66   10  21   31   22   
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  
2005-06 Atlanta Thrashers       NHL   64   10  14   24   36
2006-07 Dallas Stars            NHL   15   2   3    5    2

                   NHL Totals         414  61  121  182  150