Miroslav Šatan

May 26, 2008 | By Ben Chaisson | Players Articles Archive

Miroslav Šatan (born October 22, 1974 in Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia) is a professional ice hockey player who plays for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. The proper Slovak pronunciation of his name is SHAH-than (IPA: ['ʃatan]), but North Americans usually pronounce it "Shuh-TAN" (IPA: [ʃə'tæn]). He and wife Ingrid have a son, Miroslav Jr., born in March, 2006.

Playing career

Šatan was drafted 111th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Prior to his entry into the NHL, he played in the Czechoslovak and Slovak leagues and he had scored 9 goals in 8 games representing Slovakia at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

In 1994–95, Šatan played a season in the minor leagues, split between four teams including the Oilers' farm club in Cape Breton and the IHL's Detroit Vipers. While with the Vipers, he scored the winning goal in an exhibition game against Wayne Gretzky's Ninety-Niners, an all-star team put together by Gretzky during the 1994 NHL lockout.

After two seasons with the Oilers, the highly skilled winger was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore. He firmly established himself as a top-line forward and one of the key players of the Buffalo team. During the 2004–2005 NHL labor dispute, Šatan played for HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak League. He signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Islanders on August 3, 2005.

His 35 goals during the 2005–06 season were his highest goal-output since the 2001–02 season, with the Buffalo Sabres. Almost half his 35 goals came on the power play (17), also a career personal best. He led the Islanders in goals in the 2005–06 season. Satan tied for the team lead in points with 66, shared with captain Alexei Yashin. Also in 2005–06, Satan went 7-for-10 (70%) and was third in the league in shooting percentage in the shootout.

On December 2, 2006, he scored his 300th career goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Earlier in the season he had recorded his 300th career assist and his 600th career point.

On March 24, 2007, Šatan missed the Islanders' game in Philadelphia for personal reasons, ending a streak of having played in 305 consecutive games. It was the fourth longest active streak at the time, and marked the second time in his career that he has played over 250 consecutive games. He had a 256 game streak as a Buffalo Sabre that ended in November 2002.

Miroslav Šatan

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