| Žigmund Pálffy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Pálffy withHK Skalica in 2010 | |||
| Born | (1972-05-05)5 May 1972 (age 53) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | HK Nitra Dukla Trenčín New York Islanders HK Skalica Los Angeles Kings Slavia Praha Pittsburgh Penguins | ||
| National team |  Czechoslovakia and Slovakia | ||
| NHL draft | 26th overall,1991 New York Islanders | ||
| Playing career | 1990–2013 | ||
Žigmund Pálffy (Slovak pronunciation:[ˈʐiɡmuntˈpaːlfi]; born 5 May 1972), nicknamed"Ziggy" in English and"Žigo" in Slovak, is aSlovak former[1] professionalice hockey player.
Pálffy played in theNHL for 12 years with theNew York Islanders,Los Angeles Kings, andPittsburgh Penguins between 1993 and 2006. He announced his retirement in January 2006 and his comeback from retirement in the summer of 2007. Pálffy signed a contract to play for his boyhood clubHK 36 Skalica in the 2007–08 season and continued to do so until the end of his career. He also retracted his decision from 2005 never to play for the Slovak national team again by participating at the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver, where he was also the flagbearer. In July 2013, he announced his definite retirement. Pálffy was inducted into theIIHF Hall of Fame in 2019.
Pálffy played with theCzechoslovakia national team in the1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was drafted by theNew York Islanders in the second round of the1991 NHL Draft, 26th overall. After two more years in Slovakia, Pálffy came to North America for the1993–94 season. He spent the majority of the 1993–94 season in theInternational Hockey League (IHL) with theSalt Lake Golden Eagles, while also making his NHL debut with the Islanders, appearing in five games, although he did not earn a single point. The following season, 1994–95, he split the year between the Islanders and theDenver Grizzlies of the IHL.
In his first game of 1995–96, his team went down one goal but Pálffy scored two goals to lead New York to a 2–1 win over theFlorida Panthers. He scored 87 points in 81 games. The following two seasons were much the same for Pálffy, scoring 90 and 87 points respectively. During the1998–99 season, Pálffy was limited to only 50 games but still scored 50 points. After the season, the Islanders traded him andBryan Smolinski to theLos Angeles Kings in a deal that sawOlli Jokinen,Josh Green,Mathieu Biron and a first-round draft pick go to the Islanders.
After the2004–05 NHL lockout, Pálffy signed with the Penguins for three years and US$13.5 million. After playing 42 games with the Penguins during the2005–06 season, Pálffy retired from professional hockey. On January 18, 2006, then-Penguinsgeneral managerCraig Patrick told reporters Pálffy told him he was retiring due to a lingering shoulder injury. Pálffy completed his career with 329 goals and 384 assists for 713 points in 684 games over 12 NHL seasons.
Pálffy announced his comeback from retirement in the summer of 2007 and signed a contract to play for his hometown club ofHK 36 Skalica for the entire 2007–08 season. He became the most productive player of the regular season in theSlovak Extraliga, where he led four seasons in points. In July 2013, before the start of the 2013–14 season, Pálffy formally announced his retirement from professional hockey. He said he was old enough and did not feel like playing and traveling with the team after so many years, but also that he was going to miss the game of hockey since he lived for it for almost 40 years.[2]
 Pálffy at the2010 Winter Olympics. | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Czechoslovakia | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
 | 1991 Saskatoon | |
| Representing Slovakia | ||
| World Championships | ||
 | 2002 Gothenburg | |
| 2003 Helsinki | |
Pálffy representedSlovakia andCzechoslovakia in international competitions, winning a gold medal with Slovakia in the2002 after he had assisted onPeter Bondra's tournament-winning goal 100 seconds to go in the third period. Following the2005 World Championships in Austria, Pálffy announced his retirement from the Slovak national team. Five years later, Pálffy broke his retirement and was named to the Slovak national team for the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver, recording three assists with the team for a total of three points in seven games.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1990–91 | AC/HC Nitra | TCH | 50 | 34 | 16 | 50 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | ASVŠ Dukla Trenčín | TCH | 45 | 41 | 33 | 74 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | ASVŠ Dukla Trenčín | TCH | 43 | 38 | 41 | 79 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | New York Islanders | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Salt Lake Golden Eagles | IHL | 57 | 25 | 32 | 57 | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | New York Islanders | NHL | 33 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Denver Grizzlies | IHL | 33 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | New York Islanders | NHL | 81 | 43 | 44 | 87 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 80 | 48 | 42 | 90 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | HC Dukla Trenčín | Slovak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | New York Islanders | NHL | 82 | 45 | 42 | 87 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | New York Islanders | NHL | 50 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 9 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 64 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 73 | 38 | 51 | 89 | 20 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2001–02 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 63 | 32 | 27 | 59 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 37 | 48 | 85 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 35 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 8 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | HC Slavia Praha | Czech | 41 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2005–06 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 42 | 11 | 31 | 42 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 46 | 30 | 45 | 75 | 93 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 26 | ||
| 2008–09 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 53 | 52 | 47 | 99 | 46 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 12 | ||
| 2009–10 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 36 | 17 | 36 | 53 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 2011–12 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 48 | 26 | 57 | 83 | 76 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2012–13 | HK 36 Skalica | Slovak | 39 | 26 | 47 | 73 | 103 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | ||
| NHL totals | 684 | 329 | 384 | 713 | 322 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 8 | ||||
| Slovak totals | 240 | 172 | 243 | 415 | 358 | 49 | 31 | 47 | 78 | 64 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Czechoslovakia | WJC |  | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 2 | |
| 1991 | Czechoslovakia | CC | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1992 | Czechoslovakia | WJC | 5th | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |
| 1994 | Slovakia | Oly | 6th | 8 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Slovakia | WC | 10th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 1996 | Slovakia | WCH | — | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Slovakia | WC | 7th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 | |
| 2002 | Slovakia | Oly | 13th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | Slovakia | WC |  | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Slovakia | WC | | 9 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 18 | |
| 2005 | Slovakia | WC | 5th | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 | |
| 2010 | Slovakia | Oly | 4th | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | |
| Junior totals | 13 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 8 | ||||
| Senior totals | 54 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 66 | ||||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Czechoslovak Extraliga | ||
| TCH Champion | 1992 | |
| Leading Scorer | 1992,1993 | |
| Most Goals | 1992 | |
| Most Assists | 1993 | |
| Rookie of the Year | 1991 | |
| NHL | ||
| All-Star | 1997,1998,2001,2002 | |
| Slovak Extraliga | ||
| All-Star Team | 2008,2009,2010,2012,2013 | |
| Leading Scorer | 2008,2009,2012,2013 | |
| Most Goals | 2009 | |
| Most Assists | 2012 | |
| International | ||
| World Championship points leader | 2003 | |
| Winter Olympics points leader and assists | 1994 | |
| IIHF Hall of Fame | 2019 | [3][4] |
| IIHF All-Time Slovakia Team | 2020 | |
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for Slovakia Vancouver 2010 | Succeeded by |