
Yan Stastny has split the last two seasons with the St. Louis Blues and the Peoria Rivermen
When people hear the name Stastny, thoughts of offensive prowess likely comes to mind. The Stastny brothers – Peter, Anton and Marian – took the NHL by storm in the 1980’s when all three came from Czechoslovakia to play for the Quebec Nordiques. Peter, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998, has two sons who play pro hockey – Paul, who is a dynamic center for the Colorado Avalanche, and eldest son, Yan Stastny. Yan, the newest Peoria Rivermen captain, hasn’t had quite the same success as some of his relatives has had a long road to get to where is today but is still pushing to become an NHL player.
Yan Stastny, 27, who along with his brother Paul, grew up playing youth hockey in the St. Louis area and high school hockey for Chaminade College Prep before moving on in 1999 at the age of 16 to the St. Louis Sting of the North American Hockey League. He played one full season for the Sting, notching 35 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 45 games. Yan played six games with the Sting in the 2000-01 season before moving up to play with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, the top level of Junior-A hockey in the United States. Stastny played in 44 games with the Lancers and posted 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists).
After a solid showing with the Lancers, Stastny was able to earn himself a hockey scholarship with the University of Notre Dame. Yan started his college career in 2001 and spent two seasons with the Irish. After registering 17 points in 33 games his freshman season, Yan was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 8th round of the 2002 NHL entry draft. Yan followed that up by putting up 23 points in 39 seasons in his second season with Notre Dame.
After two seasons of college hockey, Yan looked to take his game to the pro level and opted to try his hand in Germany to play for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the German Elite League (DEL). Stastny played for the Tigers for two seasons, registering 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) in 44 games in the 2003-04 season and then improving to 54 points (24 goals, 30 assists) in 51 games in his second season with Nurnberg.
After the impressive showing in Germany, Yan looked to bring his game back to North America. The Bruins traded his rights to the Edmonton Oilers for a 4th round pick and the Oilers sent Yan to play for the now defunct, Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League for the 2005-06 season. Yan spend a majority of the season with the Stars, becoming a fan favorite in the franchise’s first year, but was able to get into three games with the Oilers. Later on in the season though, Yan found himself back with the Bruins organization as he was part of a trade along with Marty Reasoner and a 2nd round pick which took Sergei Samsonov to Edmonton. Yan got into 17 games for the Bruins, scoring four points (1 goal, 3 assists) and was then send to Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to play in the AHL playoffs. Stastny put up 5 assists in the 6 games before Providence was eliminated from the playoffs.
After playing for four different teams the previous season, Yan was hoping for a little more stability for the 2006-07 season but it ended up being almost as crazy as the season before. Yan started off the season bouncing between Boston and Providence. He played 21 games with the Bruins and 11 games with the Providence Bruins before being traded to his home town team, the St. Louis Blues, on January 16th, 2007 in exchange for a 5th round pick. Stastny then finished off the season playing for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, scoring 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games before the season ended.

Yan has been overshadowed offensively by his brother Paul, center for the Colorado Avalanche.
The 2007-08 season was Stastny’s first full season in the Blues organization and he had hopes of sticking in the NHL. Yan was able to get into 11 games with the Blues (1 goal, 1 assist) but spent a majority of the season with the Rivermen, tallying 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 43 games. After a couple of seasons of bouncing between the NHL and AHL, Yan knew he was capable of playing in the NHL but that it would not be an easy path.
When the 2008-09 season began, Stasnty wanted to build on his success from the season before. He did just this as he played a career high 34 games with the Blues. He scored three times and added four assists while with St. Louis as a checking line player but Stastny was unable to stick in the NHL full-time. Yan ended up breaking his thumb and upon returning from injury, finished the season with Peoria playing in 30 games and notching 19 points (12 goals, 7 assists). Yan then added 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 6 AHL playoff games.
Stastny came into the 2009-10 season on a one-way contract and was looking to finally establish himself as a full-time NHLer. Unfortunately, mostly due to a logjam of forwards the Blues had to choose from, Stastny was sent to Peoria during training camp.
Although he has still not reached his goal of being in the NHL, not all is bad for Yan. Since he is on a one-way contract, he is receiving an NHL salary instead of a much less AHL salary and on October 20th, 2009, Stastny was named captain of the Peoria Rivermen. The captaincy was up for grabs as ex-Rivermen captain, Trent Whitfield signed a contract with the Boston Bruins in the 2009 offseason and Stastny was a natural choice as he is known for his leadership both on and off the ice.
Stastny currently leads the Rivermen in scoring with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in seven games and has points in his last five games. Stastny could potentially be called up this season if injuries take hold of the Blues, but for now, the Rivermen captain is enjoying the start of the season in Peoria and hopes his hot start continues throughout the season with the Rivermen. Stastny is a hard working professional who could fit on an NHL checking line without much problem.
Randall Ritchey
randallritchey@gmail.com