IIHF Hall of Fame Induction 2019
Zigmund PALFFY
Player
Born Skalica, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), 5 May 1972
2019 IIHF Hall of Fame Inductee Zigmund Palffy speak at 2019 IIHF Hall of Fame Ceremony at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Bratislava on May 26, 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andre Ringuette
The flagbearer for Slovakia at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Zigmund Palffy was a hockey hero to a small, hockey-mad nation for more than 15 years.
It didn’t take long for Palffy to make his mark on the world stage. After a sensational 1991 World Juniors, during which he scored a goal a game and helped Czechoslovakia win a bronze medal, Palffy was drafted 24th overall by the New York Islanders. He played for the Czechoslovaks at the Canada Cup that fall and then opted to play for Dukla Trencin for two years before feeling confident enough to test the NHL. Even when he first came to Long Island, however, he was still not quite ready.
Palffy persisted, though, and after two years mostly in the minors his determination was rewarded. Making the Islanders at training camp in 1995, he had two dominant seasons, producing 177 points in 161 games.
During his minor pro days in North America, Palffy also played for Slovakia at the 1994 Olympics, an historic moment for the country that had to qualify to play in Lillehammer, its first ever tournament as an independent nation.
But the greatest moment in Slovakian hockey was yet to come. There was controversy first at the 2002 Olympics because NHL teams didn’t release all Slovak players in timely fashion, and the team finished a disappointing 13th. Every Slovak player in the NHL and around the world knew their nation was world class, and at the World Championship a few weeks later, they were determined to prove it.
The Slovaks beat all comers, including Canada, 3-2, in the quarter-finals. In the semis, against Sweden, the game went to a shootout, and Palffy netted the winning goal to take Slovakia to the gold-medal game.
Of course, if you are Slovak, you know where you were the afternoon of May 11, 2002, when Peter Bondra converted a pass from Palffy with exactly 100 seconds remaining in the game, giving their country a 4-3 win over Russia to win the gold medal. It remains the defining moment of their hockey history.
A year later, Palffy helped Slovakia win a World Championship bronze, but midway through the 2005/06 NHL season, he announced his retirement, citing a lingering shoulder injury. Palffy returned home, recovered, and came back two years later, eventually playing at the Vancouver Olympics, his final international event.
His IIHF career is full of highlights. A three-time Olympian, Palffy led the 1994 Olympics in scoring. He was also tied with teammate Jozef Stumpel as top scorer at the 2003 Worlds, and in 12 NHL seasons he had 30 goals or more six times. Over 684 regular-season games, he averaged better than a point a game.
At home on both the NHL and international ice, Palffy was a fluid skater and natural scorer, a sporting player whose competitive nature was as impressive as his shot. But above all he was one of the heroes of 2002, a team that took tiny Slovakia and put it at the top of the hockey world.
It didn’t take long for Palffy to make his mark on the world stage. After a sensational 1991 World Juniors, during which he scored a goal a game and helped Czechoslovakia win a bronze medal, Palffy was drafted 24th overall by the New York Islanders. He played for the Czechoslovaks at the Canada Cup that fall and then opted to play for Dukla Trencin for two years before feeling confident enough to test the NHL. Even when he first came to Long Island, however, he was still not quite ready.
Palffy persisted, though, and after two years mostly in the minors his determination was rewarded. Making the Islanders at training camp in 1995, he had two dominant seasons, producing 177 points in 161 games.
Induction Speech
During his minor pro days in North America, Palffy also played for Slovakia at the 1994 Olympics, an historic moment for the country that had to qualify to play in Lillehammer, its first ever tournament as an independent nation.
But the greatest moment in Slovakian hockey was yet to come. There was controversy first at the 2002 Olympics because NHL teams didn’t release all Slovak players in timely fashion, and the team finished a disappointing 13th. Every Slovak player in the NHL and around the world knew their nation was world class, and at the World Championship a few weeks later, they were determined to prove it.
The Slovaks beat all comers, including Canada, 3-2, in the quarter-finals. In the semis, against Sweden, the game went to a shootout, and Palffy netted the winning goal to take Slovakia to the gold-medal game.
Of course, if you are Slovak, you know where you were the afternoon of May 11, 2002, when Peter Bondra converted a pass from Palffy with exactly 100 seconds remaining in the game, giving their country a 4-3 win over Russia to win the gold medal. It remains the defining moment of their hockey history.
A year later, Palffy helped Slovakia win a World Championship bronze, but midway through the 2005/06 NHL season, he announced his retirement, citing a lingering shoulder injury. Palffy returned home, recovered, and came back two years later, eventually playing at the Vancouver Olympics, his final international event.
His IIHF career is full of highlights. A three-time Olympian, Palffy led the 1994 Olympics in scoring. He was also tied with teammate Jozef Stumpel as top scorer at the 2003 Worlds, and in 12 NHL seasons he had 30 goals or more six times. Over 684 regular-season games, he averaged better than a point a game.
At home on both the NHL and international ice, Palffy was a fluid skater and natural scorer, a sporting player whose competitive nature was as impressive as his shot. But above all he was one of the heroes of 2002, a team that took tiny Slovakia and put it at the top of the hockey world.