Žigmund Pálffy Source: SITA / Martin Medňanský SKALICA – Žigmund Pálffy celebrates his 50th birthday on Thursday. The former successful hockey representative and NHL player was born in Skalica and although he connected a piece of sports life with it, the world was small for his exceptional talent. In any team, he appeared, attracted attention with the style of the game, its vision, ease in the end and inimitable passes. The 2002 World Champion was one of the hockey players who promoted the fastest team sport to the arts. Husband Elizabeth and Sigismund Pálffy gave birth to a son, Sigismund, on May 5, 1972, two daughters – the two volleyball players Elizabeth and Alena. As a boy starting football, hockey was an associated but popular sport activity for him. He was twice declared the best footballer in the Skalice district in the student categories. In the fifth grade of primary school, he had to decide whether to give preference to football or hockey, as Skalica had opened a hockey class at that time. From the beginning of his student and youth career, he was regularly declared the best scorer and player, despite the fact that he often competed against older opponents. Skalica, Nitra and Trenčín He started men’s hockey in the parent club in Skalica, which was active in the then Slovak Hockey League. Pálffy stood out in it and at the age of 18 he transferred to the AC Nitra club in the highest federal competition before the 1990/1991 season. Under Zobor, he formed an offensive couple with Jozef Stümpel, and their close friendship dates back to that time. He later played with a robust center in the Los Angeles Kings, Slavia Prague and the Slovak national team. The talented wingman was subsequently pulled under his wing by a strong Trenčín club, and the then Dukla in the Pálffy era formed an extraordinarily gifted team, most of whose individuals later established themselves abroad and many in the NHL. Thanks to its 74 points, including the playoffs, Dukla also achieved a federal league title in the 1991/1992 season. Pálffy became the most productive player in the competition and repeated this championship in the following season, in which he collected 79 points for 38 goals and 41 passes. Photo gallery (5) Source: TASR / Lukáš Grinaj The exceptional hockey talent was not overlooked by NHL scouts. In 1991, he was drafted by the New York Islanders in Round 2 of 26th place. He started his first match in the most prestigious hockey league on January 7, 1994 against Calgary. In the 1993/1994 season, he competed in five matches and, among the first five league starts, squeezed his participation in the Lillehammer Olympics, where he became the most productive player. He scored his first goal in the NHL on January 21, 1995, scoring twice against Florida. NHL Star In the following season, 1995/1996, with 43 goals and 44 assists (a total of 87 points), he became the best scorer and at the same time the most productive “islander” player. He repeated both championships in the 1998/1999 season, when he scored 50 points (22 + 28). He worked for the NY Islanders until 1999, but has never played in the playoffs. In June 1999, it became a major part of the player exchange between the NY Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings. In the first season of the “kings” team, he became the team’s second most productive player with 66 points (27 + 39). In the year 2000/2001, he triumphed in both of the most prestigious team indicators with a total of 89 points (38 + 51). He was also the best scorer of the “kings” in the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 seasons. In the colors of Kings, he played a total of five years, but even in their jersey he did not see a penetrating success in the playoffs. Photo gallery (5) Source: TASR During the lockout in the NHL in the 2004/2005 season (10 + 3). However, he played most of the year in Slavia Prague. He returned to the NHL in the 2005/2006 season when he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the “penguins” jersey, he scored an average point per match in 42 matches, scoring 11 goals and passing to 31. He also played with then-NHL rookie Sidney Crosby, who scored his first NHL goal. In January 2006, he announced the end of his career for shoulder health problems. During the 12 seasons, he played 684 basic games in the NHL and scored 713 points for 329 goals and 384 assists. He made it to the playoffs with the Los Angeles Kings three times, he didn’t win the Stanley Cup. In the elimination fights, he achieved a balance of 19 points (9 + 10) in 24 matches. He has performed four times in the NHL Stars Match (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002). He played his last game in the NHL on Tuesday night (symbolically?) Against Vancouver, in which his Pittsburgh lost 2: 4. “Ziggy’s” last entry in the Canadian scoring was a night earlier assistance, also a bit symbolic, when the old fighter, after the action of the young talent of Sidney Crosby, handed over the regiment relay to the goal of another young hockey player, Michel Ouellet. The loss on the ice of Nasville (4: 5) and the whole season, which did not work out for the club, was also symbolic. In the meantime, he had several delays in negotiations on the basic offer for a contract with the status of a limited free agent, and until he agreed with the Islanders, he managed to play the beginnings of the Slovak extra-league seasons for Dukla (1996) and HK36 Skalica (98). During the overseas strike season, he played in the Czech extra league in the Prague Slavia jersey and in November hosted 8 matches for the club from the capital. Extra league recorder Despite a statement from 2006, he returned to the ice after a one-year break. In the year 2006/2007, he started a three-year period in which he dominated the Slovak extra league. In the 2008/2009 season, he collected a total of 126 Canadian points (64 + 62) and became the first player to reach this goal in the Slovak extra league. Apart from him, only Pálffy’s then teammate Juraj Mikúš got to the three-digit number of points. The extraordinarily productive pair led Skalica to the historic finals in 2009, in which, however, the Záhoráci lost to Košice. The still valid record is also Pálffy’s 64 goals, which have been the closest to Samuel Buček since then, who scored 54 goals in the recently concluded season. Photo gallery (5) Source: SITA After the 2009/2010 season, he ended his career for the second time, but even this time it was not definitive. After a one-year break, he returned to the extra-league rinks at the age of 39 and dominated again. He scored 90 Canadian points in 54 games and again triumphed in league scoring. He also achieved individual championship in league productivity in 2012/2013, which was definitely the last on the professional scene for Pálffy. He left an extremely strong track in the highest Slovak competition and set several records. In addition to the maximum in goals and points for the season, he also achieved the best career average of 1.73 points per match. Unforgettable experiences in the national team At the national level, his career also had a number of remarkable moments. He started at six World Championships, three Olympic Games, the Canadian and World Cups and twice at the World Championships. He played 74 matches for the national team, scored 37 goals and has two medals from the World Cup, gold 2002 and bronze a year later. Already at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway (1994), he was the most productive player in the tournament with 10 points out of 8 matches (3 + 7). He was one of the central figures of the Slovak Golden Triumph at the 2002 World Championships in Sweden. In the final match against Russia, he passed Peter Bond to the winning goal, in addition to which he also contributed to the gold with key assists in the previous two matches and winning goals in separate raids in the semifinal against Sweden. He won bronze at the 2003 World Championships in Finland and was the most productive player in the championship with 15 points (7 + 8). Photo gallery (5) Source: TASR – Daniel Veselský After being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2005 World Cup (4: 5 with Canada), Pálffy ended his career at the national level and even the overall farewell to hockey was not famous … But “Žigo” returned to his native Skalice and to the highest domestic competition. And most importantly – once again and almost certainly for the last time to the top forum. He really only missed a few pieces to say goodbye to the Olympic medal. He also represented Slovakia at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada in 2010, where the Slovak team finished fourth. He definitively ended his sports career in 2013. In 2002 and 2003, Pálffy was named the best striker in Slovakia in the Golden Puck poll. After a playing career, he became involved in youth hockey in Skalica. During the 2019 Hockey World Championships in Slovakia, he and Miroslav Šatan were inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Hockey Federation. He attracted the attention of the tabloid media with his statements to Slovak hockey and relations with today’s former fitness partners Zora Czoborová and moderator Andrea Belányiová. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee and the Youth Commission of the Slovak Ice Hockey Association. Photo gallery for article Number of photos: 5 Author: © Zoznam Source: TASR
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