Paul Stastny

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Position	Forward
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
NHL Team	Colorado Avalanche
Nationality	United States & Canada
Born	December 27, 1985, Quebec City, QC, Canada
NHL Draft	#44 overall, 2005 Colorado Avalanche
Pro Career	2006 – present

Paul Stastny (Slovak: Pavol Šťastný) (born December 27, 1985 in Quebec City) is an ice hockey player who currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL. Stastny was raised in St. Louis, Missouri.

Prior to signing with Colorado, Stastny completed his sophomore season at the University of Denver in 2005-06, capturing the Western Collegiate Hockey Association scoring title with 44 points (15g, 29a) in 28 conference games. He was named first team All-WCHA and a third-team All-American by U.S. College Hockey Online. Paul became the first DU Pioneer to win the WCHA scoring title since Dave Shields in 1989-90. Stastny and Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Carle shared the overall team scoring lead with 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists), fourth best in the WCHA. Stastny’s 1.36 points-per-game average ranked 10th in the nation.

Stastny tallied 98 points on 36 goals and 62 assists in two seasons at the University of Denver (81 games). He was named WCHA Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2004-05 after helping DU to its second consecutive national championship. He recorded two goals and an assist in Denver’s 4-1 victory over North Dakota in the 2005 NCAA title game and was named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team.

Stastny, a standout at the University of Denver for two seasons, signed a multi-year contract with the Avalanche and began his professional career with the same franchise his hall-of-fame father, Peter Stastny, began with when he signed with the Quebec Nordiques as a free-agent in 1980. As an homage to his father, Paul started his career in Colorado with the number 62, and then on October 20, 2006 he switched to the number 26, which the elder Stastny wore during his tenure with the franchise. John-Michael Liles who started the season with 26 gave Stastny his father's number, while taking number 4, the number of his idol, former Avalanche defenseman and teammate Rob Blake.

Stastny recorded his first ever NHL point on October 8, 2006, with an assist on a goal by Wojtek Wolski. On February 21, 2007 Stastny passed Alex Tanguay's rookie point total of 51 points to set a new Colorado Avalanche record for points by a rookie.^[1] He also broke Tanguay's record for assists by a rookie. His father, Peter Stastny, holds the franchise record when he scored 109 points for the Quebec Nordiques durng his rookie season in 1980-81.

On March 6, 2007 Stastny scored a point in his 16th consecutive game tying the franchise point streak record set by his father, Peter Stastny, in 1980-1981. ^[2] The following day, March 7th, Stastny scored in his 17th consecutive game, tying him with Teemu Selanne, who set the record during the 1992-1993 season. On March 11th, Paul assisted on a powerplay goal by Milan Hejduk giving him the NHL record for longest point streak by a rookie. Stastny failed to collect a point in what would have been his 21st consecutive game with a point in a match against the San Jose Sharks on March 18th, leaving his record at 20 games.