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Born	May 5, 1972 (1972-05-05) (age 37), Skalica, Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia)
Height Weight	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Left
Extraliga team F. teams	HK 36 Skalica Pittsburgh Penguins Los Angeles Kings New York Islanders
Ntl. team	Slovakia &  Czechoslovakia
NHL Draft	26th overall, 1991 New York Islanders
Pro career	1991 – 2005 2007 – present

Žigmund "Ziggy" Pálffy (born May 5, 1972) is a Slovak professional ice hockey player currently playing for HK 36 Skalica of the Slovak Extraliga.

He played right wing for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1993–2006. 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 hometown club of HK 36 Skalica for the entire 2007-08 season, and also retracted his decision from 2005 never to play for the Slovak national team again.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Awards 3 Career statistics 4 International play 4.1 International statistics 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

After a solid season in his native Czechoslovakia and an impressive stint with the Czechoslovakian National Team in the 1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Pálffy was drafted by New York Islanders in the second round of the 1991 NHL Draft, 26th overall. After 2 more years in Czechoslovakia Palffy came to North America for the 1993-94 season. He spent the majority of the 1993–94 season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles while also making his NHL debut with the Islanders, appearing in 5 games though he did not earn a single point. The following season he split the year between the Islanders and the Denver Grizzlies.

The 1995–96 NHL season saw Pálffy break out as an offensive scorer. In his first game of 1995–96, his team went down 1 goal but Pálffy would score two goals to lead New York to a 2–1 win over the Florida Panthers. He also scored 87 points in 81 games and quickly became the star of the Islanders franchise. The following two seasons were much the same for Pálffy, scoring 90 and 87 points, respectively. During the 1998–99 season, Pálffy was limited to only 50 games but still played solidly, scoring 50 points. After the season, the Islanders, facing financial woes, traded him and Bryan Smolinski to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that saw Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron, and a 1st round draft pick go to the Islanders. He was greatly missed by the team fans, who saw him as the one shining star of their perpetually turmoiled organization.

With the Kings, Pálffy continued his strong play, often being paired with fellow Slovak Jozef Stümpel and Canadian superstar Luc Robitaille. Injuries, specifically his shoulder, began to limit Pálffy's playing time. During the 2003–04 season, Pálffy's nagging shoulder kept him out of action for the majority of the season. After the 2003–04 season, the Kings decided not to re-sign Pálffy. Shortly after the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins for three years and $13.5 million (USD).

After playing 42 games with the Penguins during the 2005–06 season, Palffy abruptly retired from hockey. On January 18, 2006 then Penguins GM Craig Patrick told reporters that 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 has represented Slovakia and Czechoslovakia in international competitions, winning the Gold Medal with Slovakia in the 2002 World Championships after he had prepared the tournament-winning goal 100 seconds to go in third period for Peter Bondra. Following the 2005 World Championships in Austria, Pálffy announced his retirement from the Slovak national team.

Pálffy announced his comeback from retirement in the summer of 2007, and signed a contract to play for his hometown club of HK 36 Skalica for the entire 2007–08 season. He became the most productive player of the regular season 2007-08 in the Slovak Extraliga, gathering 75 points in just 49 games. He also retracted his decision never to play for the Slovak national team again, opening up the possibility for him to represent Slovakia at the World Championships tournament to be held in Canada in May 2008. Palffy has just been named to the 2010 Slovakian Olympic team in Vancouver

[edit] Awards

• Played in the 1996 NHL All-Star game
• Played in the 1998 NHL All-Star game
• Played in the 2001 NHL All-Star game
• Played in the 2002 NHL All-Star Game

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990–91	Nitra	CS		50	34	16	50	18		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Dukla Trenčín	CS		32	23	24	47	—		13	18	8	26	—
1992–93	Dukla Trenčín	CS		43	38	41	79	0		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	IHL		57	25	32	57	83		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	New York Islanders	NHL		5	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Denver Grizzlies	IHL		33	20	23	43	40		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	New York Islanders	NHL		33	10	7	17	6		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	New York Islanders	NHL		81	43	44	87	56		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Dukla Trenčín	SVK		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	New York Islanders	NHL		80	48	42	90	43		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	New York Islanders	NHL		82	45	42	87	34		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	HK 36 Skalica	SVK		9	11	8	19	9		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	New York Islanders	NHL		50	22	28	50	34		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	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	SVK		8	10	3	13	6		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	HC Slavia Praha	CZE		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	SVK		46	30	45	75	93		13	7	17	24	26
2008–09	HK 36 Skalica	SVK		53	52	47	99	46		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				684	329	384	713	322		24	9	10	19	8

[edit] International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Czechoslovakia
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Bronze	1991 Saskatoon	Ice hockey

Medal record
Competitor for  Slovakia
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold	2002 Jönköping,	Ice hockey
Bronze	2003 Helsinki	Ice hockey

Played for Czechoslovakia in:

• 1991 World Junior Championships (Bronze medal)
• 1991 Canada Cup
• 1992 World Junior Championships

Played for Slovakia in:

• 1994 Winter Olympics
• 1996 World Championships
• 1996 World Cup
• 1999 World Championships
• 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2002 World Championships (Gold medal)
• 2003 World Championships (Bronze medal)
• 2005 World Championships

[edit] International statistics

Year	Team	Comp	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991	Czechoslovakia	WJC	7	7	6	13	2
1991	Czechoslovakia	CC	5	1	0	1	2
1992	Czechoslovakia	WJC	6	3	1	4	6
1994	Slovakia	OG	8	3	7	10	8
1996	Slovakia	WC	5	2	0	2	10
1996	Slovakia	WCH	3	1	2	3	2
1999	Slovakia	WC	6	5	5	10	6
2002	Slovakia	OG	1	0	0	0	0
2002	Slovakia	WC	3	1	6	7	2
2003	Slovakia	WC	9	7	8	15	18
2005	Slovakia	WC	7	5	4	9	10
Junior int'l totals			13	10	7	17	8
Senior CSFR int'l totals			5	1	0	1	2
Senior SVK int'l totals			42	24	32	56	56

[edit] See also

• Slovaks in the NHL

[edit] External links

• Žigmund Pálffy's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

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