Miroslav Satan Retires From Hockey

39 year old right winger Miroslav Satan, a Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh in 2009, announced his retirement from hockey.

Satan made the announcement after his final game for Slovakia, a 4-3 victory against Denmark in the preliminary round of the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk, Belarus.

"I am convinced that this is the right decision," Satan told reporters in Minsk. "My daughter (Victoria) asks me every day, when I will be finally back at home."

Satan played 1,050 games over 14 NHL seasons, scoring 363 goals and 372 assists for 735 points with the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins. Sadly, Satan (pronounced Sha-tan) never played for the New Jersey Devils.

Stan also played 86 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and had 21 goals and 33 assists (54 points), winning the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2009.

He is Slovakia's all-time scoring leader at the World Championship with 75 points (37 goals, 38 assists) and has played for all four of the country's medal teams, winning a silver in 2000, gold in 2002, bronze in 2003, and silver in 2012. He was also a four-time Olympian from 1998 through 2010.

"I cherish getting the gold medal from the Worlds in 2002 and winning the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 as the biggest achievements of my career," Satan said.

Selected by the Oilers in the fifth round (No. 111) of the 1993 NHL Draft, Satan spent two seasons in Edmonton, scoring 35 goals and 57 points in 126 regular-season games. He was traded by the Oilers to the Sabres for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore in March 1997 and led Buffalo in scoring in six seasons.

In 1998-99, Satan scored a career-high 40 goals and was a key player in the Sabres' run to the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars. The Stars won the best-of-7 series, 4-2. Satan spent eight seasons with the Sabres, his longest tenure with one NHL team.

Satan signed as a free agent with the Islanders in August 2005 and led them with 35 goals the following season. He helped the Islanders qualify for the playoffs in 2006-07 when he had 27 goals and 59 points in 81 games.

In July 2008, Satan signed a one-year contract with the Penguins. He was placed on waivers in March 2009, but returned to the team one month later to help Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup with one goal and six points in 17 games.

His final NHL season was 2009-10 with the Bruins, when he had nine goals and 14 points in 38 games. He then exited the NHL to sign with Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Extraliga, the top league in Slovakia. He scored 97 goals and 176 points in 164 games.

Satan was known as a good goal scorer but also for his sometimes exuberant goal celebrations.