Peter Bondra

Peter Bondra
Peter Bondra
Born	February 7, 1968 (age 44); Lutsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Washington Capitals; Ottawa Senators; Atlanta Thrashers; Chicago Blackhawks
National team	Slovakia
NHL Draft	156th overall, 1990; Washington Capitals
Playing career	1986–2007

Peter Bondra (born February 7, 1968) is a former Slovak professional ice hockey player. He was the general manager of the Slovak national team from 2007 to 2011.¹ Bondra became the 37th player in NHL history to score 500 NHL goals.

Life and family

When Bondra was three years old, his father moved with the family back to Czechoslovakia from Lutsk, Ukraine, where he had moved in 1947 in order to seek better work. From 1982, Bondra and his older brothers, Vladimír and Juraj, were raised by their mother Nadežda as their father had died in that year. He was still a Soviet citizen when he arrived in the United States, later obtaining a Slovak passport and citizenship in 1993. Currently, Bondra and his wife Luba, as well as their daughter Petra and two sons, David and Nick, reside in Riva, Maryland. His son David is a forward for the Chilliwack Chiefs. His other son Nick is playing for the Metro Maple Leafs U18 AA. He is currently an assistant coach for the Washington Jr. Nationals Junior B team.

Playing career

Bondra was drafted by the Capitals in 1990, 156th overall. Before joining the Capitals he played for TJ VSŽ Košice (now called HC Košice) for four seasons from 1986-90 in Czechoslovakia. In Washington, Bondra became one of the more prolific goal-scorers of the 1990s. Due to the language barrier, he became good friends with Ukrainian-born Capitals player Dmitri Khristich, who he spoke with in both Russian and Ukrainian.² His deepest playoff run came in 1997–98, when the Capitals advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals before being swept by Detroit. In the 2004 season, Bondra's 14th with Washington, the Capitals endured a disappointing year and in a salary purge move traded veteran members of the team to contenders. Bondra was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Brooks Laich and a second round draft pick. At the press conference announcing this trade Bondra notably became choked up.³

In 14 years with the Capitals, he scored 472 goals and racked up 353 assists in 961 games. He holds Capitals team records in goals (472), points (825), power-play goals (137), game-winning goals (73), short-handed goals (32) and hat tricks (19). With the Caps he appeared in five all-star games (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999). In 1997 and 1999 Bondra won the Fastest Skater Competition on All-Star weekend. In 2004, the Capitals held a vote for fans to determine the top 30 players in franchise history to celebrate their 30th season in the league. Bondra finished second with 2,018 votes. The winner, Olaf Kölzig, beat him by only 20 votes.

Peter Bondra scoring on Roberto Luongo.

During the 1994-1995 (with 34 in a lockout-shortened season) and 1997–1998 seasons (with 52), Bondra led the league in goals scored.

After the 2004-2005 NHL season was canceled due to the NHL labor dispute, Bondra played a handful of games with HK Tatravagónka ŠKP Poprad of the Slovak Extraliga. Prior to the 2005-2006 NHL season, Bondra was in talks to rejoin the Capitals. He ended up signing with the Atlanta Thrashers.

On December 10, Bondra signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. On December 22, 2006, he scored his 500th NHL career goal at the United Center, in Chicago's 3–1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bondra drove to the net and netted the rebound of Jassen Cullimore's shot from the left point past Toronto's Jean-Sébastien Aubin, 6:37 into the third period on the power play. Bondra was the 37th player in league history to reach the 500–goal mark and the fourth player to record his 500th goal in a Chicago Blackhawks sweater (joining Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Michel Goulet).

On October 29, 2007, Bondra announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 39.¹

Career statistics

			Regular season									Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PP	SH	GW	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1986–87	TJ VSŽ Košice	CSSR	32	4	5	9	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	TJ VSŽ Košice	CSSR	45	27	11	38	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	TJ VSŽ Košice	CSSR	40	30	10	40	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	TJ VSŽ Košice	CSSR	49	36	19	55	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Washington Capitals	NHL	54	12	16	28	47	-10	4	0	1	4	0	1	1	2
1991–92	Washington Capitals	NHL	71	28	28	56	42	+16	4	0	3	7	6	2	8	4
1992–93	Washington Capitals	NHL	83	37	48	85	70	+8	10	0	7	6	0	6	6	0
1993–94	Washington Capitals	NHL	69	24	19	43	40	+22	4	0	2	9	2	4	6	4
1994–95	Washington Capitals	NHL	47	34	9	43	24	+9	12	6	3	7	5	3	8	10
1995–96	Washington Capitals	NHL	67	52	28	80	40	+18	11	4	7	6	3	2	5	8
1995–96	Detroit Vipers	IHL	7	8	1	9	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Washington Capitals	NHL	77	46	31	77	72	+7	10	4	3	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Washington Capitals	NHL	76	52	26	78	44	+14	11	5	13	17	7	5	12	12
1998–99	Washington Capitals	NHL	66	31	24	55	56	-1	6	3	5	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Washington Capitals	NHL	62	21	17	38	30	+5	5	3	5	5	1	1	2	4
2000–01	Washington Capitals	NHL	82	45	36	81	60	+8	22	4	8	6	2	0	2	2
2001–02	Washington Capitals	NHL	77	39	31	70	80	-2	17	1	8	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Washington Capitals	NHL	76	30	26	56	52	-3	9	2	4	6	4	2	6	8
2003–04	Washington Capitals	NHL	54	21	14	35	22	-17	12	0	4	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Ottawa Senators	NHL	23	5	9	14	16	+1	2	0	1	7	0	0	0	6
2004–05	HK ŠKP Poprad	SVK	6	4	2	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL	60	21	18	39	40	-3	8	0	1	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	37	5	9	14	14	+2	2	0	3	—	—	—	—	—
	NHL totals		1081	503	389	892	749	+74	149	32	78	80	30	26	56	60

International play

Bondra has represented Slovakia on seven occasions in international competition, including the 1994 Winter Olympics qualifying tournament, the 1998 Winter Olympics, the 2006 Winter Olympics, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2002 and 2003. He scored a tournament-leading seven goals (including the tournament-winning goal) and ranked third among all players with nine points to lead Slovakia 4–3 over Russia to the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship. He notched five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games to help Slovakia earn the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championship. Overall, he played 47 games and scored 35 goals for Slovakia.

References

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Keith Tkachuk	NHL Goal Leader (tied with Teemu Selänne) 1998	Succeeded by Teemu Selänne
Preceded by Pavel Bure	NHL Goal Leader 1995	Succeeded by Mario Lemieux

[Retirement-0] ttp://www.hokej.sk/clanok50852.htm (Slovak)

[1] ttp://isport.ua/hockey/ukraine/news/169808.html

[2] ttp://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1737956

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