Patrik Štefan (born 16 September 1980) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who was drafted first overall by the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

Playing career

Prior to being drafted by the Thrashers, Štefan played for

Sparta Praha ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

in the Czech Republic, and the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the IHL. Štefan played six seasons for the

scoring 177 points. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Štefan played for Ilves Tampere in the SM-liiga. In 37 games, Štefan collected a total of 41 points including 28 assists. In the playoffs, Štefan had six assists and a goal in seven games. On 24 June 2006, Štefan was traded to the Dallas Stars along with Jaroslav Modrý for

Niko Kapanen Niko Klaus Petteri Kapanen (born 29 April 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre, who last played for HPK of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Kapanen was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 6th round as the 173rd overall pick ...

and a 7th round draft pick in 2006.

Empty net blunder

Štefan earned significant notoriety on 4 January 2007 for a blunder during a game against the Edmonton Oilers. With seconds left in the game, and Dallas already ahead by a goal, Štefan gained possession of the puck and found himself on a breakaway towards an empty net. Štefan continued skating towards the crease rather than immediately shooting, then attempted a casual backhand into the net from close quarters. The puck hit bad ice and bounced up and over his stick, causing him to miss the goal, trip, and fall against the ice. To compound the error, he then cleared the puck in the direction of the Oilers. This allowed a play to develop where fellow Czech Aleš Hemský scored with two seconds remaining to tie the game 5-5; ultimately, Dallas won in a shootout. After Štefan's contract expired in 2007, the Dallas Stars chose not to re-sign him. Štefan signed with SC Bern of the Nationalliga A, but he only played three games for them before retiring in October 2007, largely due to a serious hip injury, the latest of several chronic injuries that plagued his career.Patrik Stefan retires from hockey
/ref> He is currently a player agent in the Detroit area, and a youth coach with 15U Little Caesars Hockey.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Honours and achievements

* Won silver medal at

2006 IIHF World Championship The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefan, Patrik 1980 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers draft picks Atlanta Thrashers players Chicago Wolves players Czech ice hockey centres Dallas Stars players HC Sparta Praha players Ilves players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players National Hockey League first-overall draft picks National Hockey League first-round draft picks Sportspeople from Příbram SC Bern players