Peter Bondra

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Position Winger
Shoots Left
Nickname(s) Bonzai
Height
Weight		 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
Pro clubs Atlanta Thrashers
Ottawa Senators
Washington Capitals
Chicago Blackhawks
Nationality Flag of Slovakia Slovakia
Born February 7, 1968 (1968-02-07) (age 40),
Lutsk, USSR
NHL Draft 156th overall, 1990
Washington Capitals
Pro career 1986 – 2007

Peter Bondra (Born February 7, 1968 in Lutsk, Ukraine, U.S.S.R.) is a former Slovak professional ice-hockey player who is currently the general manager of the Slovak national team.[1] Bondra became the 37th player in NHL History to score 500 NHL goals on December 22, 2006 against Toronto's Jean-Sebastien Aubin.

Contents

[edit] Life and family

When he was 3 years old, his father moved with the family back to Czechoslovakia from the Lutsk (Ukraine), where he had moved in 1947 in order to seek better work. Since 1982, Peter and his two older brothers Vladimír and Juraj, were raised only by their mother Nadežda as their father had died in that year. He was still a Soviet citizen when he arrived in the USA, later obtaining a Slovak passport and citizenship in 1993. Currently, Peter and his wife Luba, as well as their daughter Petra and two sons, David and Nicholas, reside in Riva, Maryland.

[edit] Playing career

Peter Bondra scoring on Roberto Luongo.
Peter Bondra scoring on Roberto Luongo.

Peter was drafted by the Capitals in 1990, 156th overall, but before joining the team in 1990/91 season he played for hockey team TJ VSŽ Košice (now called HC Košice) for four seasons from 1986/87 in Czechoslovakia. In Washington, Bondra blossomed to become one of the more prolific goal-scorers of the 1990s, while trying to fulfil his dream of winning the Stanley Cup. His best chance to do so came in 1997–98, when the Capitals advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing 0–4 to Detroit. In the 2004 season, Bondra's 14th with Washington, the Capitals endured a disappointing year and in a salary purge move traded veteran members of the team to contenders. Bondra was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Brooks Laich and a second round draft pick.

Over his career, he has been renowned for his exceptional skills. In 14 years with the Capitals, he has scored 472 goals and has racked up 353 assists in 961 games. He holds Capitals team records in goals (472), points (825), power-play goals (137), game-winning goals (73), short-handed goals (32) and hat tricks (19). With the Caps he appeared in five all-star games (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999). In 1997 and 1999 Bondra won the Fastest Skater Competition on All-Star weekend. In 2004, the Capitals held a vote for fans to determine the top 30 players in franchise history to celebrate their 30th season in the league. Bondra finished second with 2,018 votes. The winner, Olaf Kolzig, beat him by a mere 20 votes.

For his goal-scoring ability, he is nicknamed "Bonzai" and occasionally "The Slovakian Sniper" (for instance, he once scored a goal by shooting the puck off the glass boards behind the goal, which in turn bounced off the back of the attending goalie and into the net). During the 1994-1995 (with 34 in a lockout-shortened season) and 1997-1998 seasons (with 52), he led the league in goals scored.

After the 2004-2005 NHL season was canceled due to the NHL labor dispute, Bondra played a handful of games with HK Tatravagónka ŠKP Poprad of the Slovak Extraliga. Prior to the 2005-2006 NHL season, Bondra was in talks to possibly rejoin the Capitals. He ended up signing with the Atlanta Thrashers.

On December 10th Bondra signed a one—year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. On December 22, 2006 Bondra scored his 500th NHL career goal at the United Center, in Chicago's 3–1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bondra drove to the net and netted the rebound of Jassen Cullimore's shot from the left point past Toronto's Jean-Sebastien Aubin, 6:37 into the third period on the power play. Peter Bondra became the 37th player in league history to reach the 500–goal mark. Bondra became the 4th player to record his 500th goal in a Chicago Blackhawks sweater joining Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Michel Goulet.

He officially retired from the National Hockey League on October 29th, 2007.

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A P PIM +/- PP SH GW GP G A Pts PIM
1986–87 TJ VSŽ Košice CSSR 32 4 5 9 24 - - - - - - - - -
1987–88 TJ VSŽ Košice CSSR 45 27 11 38 20 - - - - - - - - -
1988–89 TJ VSŽ Košice CSSR 40 30 10 40 20 - - - - - - - - -
1989–90 TJ VSŽ Košice CSSR 49 36 19 55 - - - - - - - - - -
1990–91 Washington Capitals NHL 54 12 16 28 47 -10 4 0 1 4 0 1 1 2
1991–92 Washington Capitals NHL 71 28 28 56 42 +16 4 0 3 7 6 2 8 4
1992–93 Washington Capitals NHL 83 37 48 85 70 +8 10 0 7 6 0 6 6 0
1993–94 Washington Capitals NHL 69 24 19 43 40 +22 4 0 2 9 2 4 6 4
1994–95 Washington Capitals NHL 47 34 9 43 24 +9 12 6 3 7 5 3 8 10
1995–96 Washington Capitals NHL 67 52 28 80 40 +18 11 4 7 6 3 2 5 8
1995–96 Detroit Vipers IHL 7 8 1 9 0 - - - - - - - - -
1996–97 Washington Capitals NHL 77 46 31 77 72 +7 10 4 3 - - - - -
1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 76 52 26 78 44 +14 11 5 13 17 7 5 12 12
1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 66 31 24 55 56 -1 6 3 5 - - - - -
1999–00 Washington Capitals NHL 62 21 17 38 30 +5 5 3 5 5 1 1 2 4
2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 82 45 36 81 60 +8 22 4 8 6 2 0 2 2
2001–02 Washington Capitals NHL 77 39 31 70 80 -2 17 1 8 - - - - -
2002–03 Washington Capitals NHL 76 30 26 56 52 -3 9 2 4 6 4 2 6 8
2003–04 Washington Capitals NHL 54 21 14 35 22 -17 12 0 4 - - - - -
2003–04 Ottawa Senators NHL 23 5 9 14 16 +1 2 0 1 7 0 0 0 6
2004–05 HK ŠKP Poprad SVK 6 4 2 6 4 - - - - - - - - -
2005–06 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 60 21 18 39 40 -3 8 0 1 - - - - -
2006–07 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 37 5 9 14 14 +2 2 0 3 - - - - -
NHL Totals 1081 503 389 892 749 +74 149 32 78 80 30 26 56 60

[edit] International play

Bondra has represented Slovakia on seven occasions in international competition, including the 1994 Winter Olympics qualifying tournament, the 1998 Winter Olympics, the 2006 Winter Olympics, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2002 and 2003. He scored a tournament-leading seven goals (scored the tournament-winning goal 100 seconds to go in third period) and ranked third among all players with nine points to lead Slovakia 4–3 over Russia to the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship. He notched five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games to help Slovakia earn the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championship. Overall, he played 47 games and scored 35 goals on international level for Slovakia.

[edit] Retirement

On October 29, 2007 he announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 39.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b http://www.hokej.sk/clanok50852.htm (Slovak)

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Keith Tkachuk		 NHL Goal Leader

(tied with Teemu Selänne)
1998

 Succeeded by
Teemu Selänne
Preceded by
Pavel Bure		 NHL Goal Leader
1995		 Succeeded by
Mario Lemieux