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1978 NHL DRAFT PICK
Anton Stastny
Selected in 12th round
No. 198 overall by Philadelphia Flyers

Born August 5, 1959
Position: Left Wing
Height: 6-0   Weight: 185
BEFORE THE DRAFT
Last Team: Bratislava (Czechoslovakia)              
Birthplace: Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Hometown: Bratislava, Slovakia
PRE-DRAFT STATISTICS
Year TeamLeague GPG ATP PIM
1977-78 BratislavaCzech. 4419 1736 22

PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
World Junior Championships:
1978 (fourth place)
European Junior Championships: 1977 (silver medal)
World Junior Championships All-Star First Team: 1978
Miscellaneous: Won four Czechoslovakian junior championships while playing for Bratislava junior team.
NHL CAREER
Debut: October 9, 1980 (Quebec at Calgary)
Numbers:  20 (Quebec)
Stanley Cup: Never won.  Playing Status: Retired 1994
CAREER NHL STATISTICS
Years TeamsGP GA TPPIM
1980-1989 Quebec650 252384 636150
CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS
Years TeamsGP GA TPPIM
1981-1987 Quebec66 2032 5231

NHL AWARDS AND HONORS
DRAFT RE-ENTRY:
1979 (Quebec, No. 83 overall in Round 4)
NHL Records: Most points in one game by two brothers (16 with Peter Stastny for Quebec at Washington on Feb. 22, 1981)
Quebec/Colorado Records: Most goals by a rookie (39 in 1980-81, shares record), most points in one game (8 at Washington on Feb. 22, 1981, shares record)
Quebec Playoffs Goals Leader: 1981 (4)
Miscellaneous: His first NHL game was also first in Calgary Flames history. ... Played on line with Peter Stastny and Jamie Hislop for Quebec in 1979-80. ... Played on line with Peter Stastny and Marian Stastny for Quebec from 1981-82 through 1983-84. ... Missed part of 1981-82 season with pulled knee ligaments, suffered in December 1981. ... Missed end of 1985 playoffs with fractured cheekbone. ... Missed parts of 1985-86 season with back spasms, suffered during Quebec's Nov. 9, 1985, game vs. Hartford, with fractured toe, suffered in Quebec's Dec. 10, 1985, game at Buffalo, and with broken ribs, suffered in Quebec's Feb. 1, 1986, game vs. Philadelphia. ... Released by Quebec after team bought out his contract on May 18, 1989.
NON-NHL CAREER
Post-Draft Teams: Bratislava (Czechoslovakia); Halifax (AHL); Fribourg-Gotteron, Olten (Switzerland)
Olympics: 1980 (fifth place)
World Championships: 1979 (silver medal)
World Junior Championships: 1979 (silver medal)
NON-NHL AWARDS AND HONORS
Czechoslovakian Championship:
1979 (Bratislava)
Czechoslovakia All-Star First Team: 1978-79 (Bratislava)
Miscellaneous: Was first player born and trained in modern-day Slovakia ever drafted by an NHL team. ... Played on line with brothers Peter and Marian Stastny for Czech national team in 1978-79 and 1979-80. ... Earned Canadian citizenship on April 2, 1984, although later, after the fall of communism in the late 1980s, he would associate himself with an independent Slovakia. ... Signed two-year contract with Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland) in May 1989. ... Retired for first time after playing 1991-92 season in Switzerland, but came out of retirement to play for hometown Bratislava (Slovakia) team in 1993-94. ... Worked as instructor in Swiss hockey schools after his retirement. ... Became active in Oldtimers' charity hockey after his retirement.
Personal: Younger brother of Slovakian national team assistant coach Vladimir Stastny, former Czechoslovakian star Bohuslav Stastny and former NHL players Marian Stastny and Peter Stastny. ... Father of Swiss player Thomas Stastny. ... Uncle of college hockey player Yan Stastny and USHL player Paul Stastny, a Notre Dame recruit.
Stastny's Defection: Stastny and his brother Peter defected from their native Czechoslovakia in 1980. In bolting the communist nation, they risked their lives for the chance to play in the NHL. The Quebec Nordiques organization played a major role in helping the Stastnys, as the team had worked on the maneuver since the summer of 1979. Initially, Quebec hoped that the Stastnys could defect at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., but security had been too tight and prevented Quebec executives from communicating with the brothers. Several months later, in August 1980, Quebec president Marcel Aubut and director of player development Gilles Leger flew to Innsbruck, Austria, to watch the Stastnys play in the European Cup tournament. Prior to the start of the tournament, Aubut and Leger secretly checked themselves into the same hotel in which the Stastnys' Slovan Bratislava team was staying. Bratislava players arrived on Aug. 20, and the two executives passed word to the Stastnys that they were also in the hotel. Two days later, on Aug. 22, 1980, the Stastnys slipped away from Bratislava team officials and went to the Quebec executives' hotel rooms. The group agreed that the Stastnys would play for Bratislava in the championship game against the Soviets on Aug. 24, and would then flee the country with Aubut, Leger and Peter Stastny's pregnant wife, Darina. On Sunday, Aug. 24, the Soviets won the title game 11-1, and the brothers hurried back to the hotel with Darina Stastny. They were met there by Aubut and Leger, and the group of five slipped out of the hotel and drove to Vienna. They went Vienna's Canadian Embassy, which had already prepared defection papers for the brothers. Austrian police then escorted the group to the Vienna airport, and they were flown to Amsterdam. They later flew to Montreal, arriving on Monday, Aug. 26. Although many assumed the Stastnys came to North America to escape Iron Curtain tyranny, they would later say that their ultimate motivation for seeking political asylum in Canada  was a desire to get away from their Bratislava coach and to play for a team that was serious about winning. One year later, Nordiques officials negotiated with the Czech hockey federation for the release of the Stastnys' older brother Marian. By that time, Marian had already paid a price for his brothers' actions, because the federation made him sit out the 1980-81 season so he couldn't defect.
HOW HE GOT AWAY
FREE AGENCY: Stastny was not in fact eligible for the 1978 draft because he was too young, but there had been confusion about his actual age at the time he was drafted, and Philadelphia mistakenly gambled that he was old enough. As a result, Stastny had to re-enter the draft in 1979, and he was selected by Quebec in the fourth round.

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SNAPSHOT '78
Total Selected: 234
Forwards: 143
Defense: 67
Goaltenders: 24
Major Junior: 127
College Players: 80
Canadian: 170
Euro-Canadian: 0
USA Citizens: 47
U.S.-Born: 47
European: 17
Reached NHL: 95
Won Stanley Cup: 16
Hall of Fame: 1
All-Star Game: 18
Year-end All-Star: 1
Olympians: 16
Picks Traded: 46
 
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