HOCKEY PLAYERS from Slovakia

1. Stan Mikita (1940 - 2018)

With an HPI of 60.07, Stan Mikita is the most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

2. Ladislav Troják (1914 - 1948)

With an HPI of 55.44, Ladislav Troják is the 2nd most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ladislav Troják (15 June 1914 – 8 November 1948) was a Slovak ice hockey player. On the national team of Czechoslovakia, he was the first Slovak hockey player to win a World Championship (1947 World Championship). Troják wore the number 9. He died on 8 November 1948 during an aircraft accident over the English Channel, along with five other members of the Czechoslovak national team. He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2011.

3. Pavol Demitra (1974 - 2011)

With an HPI of 51.37, Pavol Demitra is the 3rd most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Pavol Demitra (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpaʋɔl ˈdemitra]; 29 November 1974 – 7 September 2011) was a Slovak professional ice hockey player. He played nineteen seasons of professional hockey, for teams in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League (CSL), National Hockey League (NHL), Slovak Extraliga (SVK), and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). A skilled offensive player, Demitra was a top-line forward throughout his career. After a season with HC Dukla Trenčín in the CSL, Demitra was selected 227th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He subsequently left Slovakia to join the Senators organization, spending three seasons split between team and their American Hockey League affiliate. A contract holdout at the start of the 1996–97 season saw Demitra traded to the St. Louis Blues. Demitra had his most successful seasons with St. Louis, being selected for three NHL All-Star Games and winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2000. He scored at least 30 goals three times and 90 points once while with the Blues. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Demitra returned to HC Dukla Trenčín for, and upon returning to the NHL the following year, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings. After one season with Los Angeles, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he played for two further seasons before signing with the Vancouver Canucks, and spent his last two NHL seasons with the team. In 2010 Demitra signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, playing one season there before dying in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that involved most of the team prior to the 2011–12 KHL season. Internationally, Demitra played in junior tournaments with the Czechoslovak national junior team. He won a gold medal at the 1992 IIHF European U18 Championship and a bronze medal at the 1993 IIHF World U20 Championship. After the country split in 1993, Demitra began competing for Slovakia. Beginning in 1996, he played in six IIHF World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003 and captaining his country in 2011. He also played in the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Demitra also played in three Winter Olympics: 2002, 2006 (where he was captain of the Slovak team), and 2010, where he led all scorers in points and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team.

4. Miroslav Šatan (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 49.18, Miroslav Šatan is the 4th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Miroslav Šatan (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmirɔslaw ˈʂatan]; born 22 October 1974) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger, who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), five in the Tipos Extraliga, and three in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Šatan was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019.

5. Žigmund Pálffy (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 48.88, Žigmund Pálffy is the 5th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Žigmund Pálffy (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈʐiɡmunt ˈpaːlfi]; born 5 May 1972), nicknamed "Ziggy" in English and "Žigo" in Slovak, is a Slovak former professional ice hockey player. One of the most talented wingers, Pálffy played in the NHL for 12 years with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1993 and 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 boyhood club HK 36 Skalica in the 2007–08 season and continued to do so until the end of his career. He also retracted his decision from 2005 never to play for the Slovak national team again by participating at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he was also the flagbearer. In July 2013, he announced his definite retirement. Pálffy was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019.

6. Zdeno Chára (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 48.69, Zdeno Chára is the 6th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Zdeno Chára (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈzdenɔ ˈxaːra]; born 18 March 1977) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Washington Capitals between 1997 and 2022. Standing 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall, Chára is the tallest person ever to play in the NHL, earning him the nickname "Big Z". Internationally, he played for the Slovakia men's national team and won two silver medals at the Ice Hockey World Championships. At the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, he won a silver medal playing for Team Europe. In 2025, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Chára served as the Bruins' captain for all of his fourteen seasons with the franchise, from 2006 to 2020. He won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman in 2009, becoming the first Slovak player to do so, and the second European player after Nicklas Lidström. In 2011, 2013 and 2019 Chára captained the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning in 2011. He is one of five European-born and raised captains to lead his team to the Stanley Cup championship, and the first to be born and trained in the Eastern Bloc. In 2022, Chára played in his 1,652nd NHL game, making him the league's all-time leader in games played by a defenceman. He was the second to last active NHL player to play in the 1990s.

7. Marián Hossa (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 47.54, Marián Hossa is the 7th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Marián Hossa (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmarijaːn ˈɦɔsa]; born 12 January 1979) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. Hossa was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the first round, 12th overall, of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. After spending his first seven NHL seasons with the Senators, he played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks. Over the course of his career, he made five NHL All-Star Game appearances and played in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams, finally winning the Stanley Cup in 2009–10 with Chicago. He won two additional Stanley Cup championships with Chicago during the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons. Hossa's playing career ended prematurely in 2017, when he announced he was suffering from a progressive skin disorder. His contract was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2018 and he formally retired in 2022. Hossa accumulated 525 goals and 609 assists for 1,134 points in 1,309 regular-season games over his 19-year NHL career. He was the 44th player in NHL history to score 500 goals, and the 80th player to score 1,000 points. He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.

8. Róbert Švehla (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 45.27, Róbert Švehla is the 8th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Róbert Švehla ( SVAY-lə, Slovak: [ˈrɔːbert ˈʂʋeɦla]; born January 2, 1969) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL for 9 seasons from 1995 until 2003 for the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

9. Marián Gáborík (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 44.56, Marián Gáborík is the 9th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Marián Gáborík (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmarijaːŋ ˈɡaːbɔriːk]; born 14 February 1982) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He began his playing career in the Slovak Extraliga with Dukla Trenčín for two seasons before being drafted third overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild, becoming the highest-drafted Slovak player in National Hockey League (NHL) history until Juraj Slafkovský, who was drafted 1st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022. Gáborík was the Wild's first-ever draft pick and would score the team's first-ever regular season goal. Gáborík spent eight seasons with the Wild from 2000 to 2009, becoming the team's all-time leading goal scorer, before signing with the New York Rangers in 2009. He has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, and Ottawa Senators in the NHL until retiring in 2018. Gáborík won the Stanley Cup with the Kings, defeating his former team, the Rangers, in the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals. Internationally, Gáborík was a two-time Olympian with Slovakia and won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Junior Championships.

10. Ľuboš Bartečko (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 44.48, Ľuboš Bartečko is the 10th most famous Slovak Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ľuboš Bartečko (born July 14, 1976) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey forward. He began and concluded his career with hometown club, HK ŠKP Poprad in the Slovak Extraliga. He most notably played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers. He also competed at three Winter Olympics.