It's a good day for a pair of Slovakian ex-Penguins.
Miroslav Satan and Ziggy Palffy are among the inductees of the International Ice Hockey Federation's 2019 Hall of Fame class, the IIHF announced Wednesday.
Satan, 44, played for the Penguins in the 2008-09 season. Satan recorded 17 goals and 19 assists in 65 regular season games that year, as well as one goal and five assists in 17 playoff games to capture his first Stanley Cup. Satan's goal was a breakaway goal to open the scoring in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
His international play is the reason for his induction, though. The IIHF referred to Satan as "a legend among the first generation of Slovak players after the country achieved independence in the early 1990s."
Satan was an integral part of the Slovakian team that qualified for the 1994 Olympics for the first time, and he helped Slovakia advance to the top division of the World Championship tournament. Satan has 37 goals and 38 assists in 88 career World Championship top-division games, and 10 goals and four assists in 21 Olympic games.
Palffy, 46, played for the Penguins in the 2005-06 season, where he recorded 11 goals and 31 assists in 42 games on a line with a rookie by the name of Sidney Crosby. He retired from NHL play that January due to lingering shoulder problems.
Palffy dominated for Slovakia in international play, scoring 20 goals and 23 assists in 30 World Championship games. He recorded three goals and 10 assists in 16 Olympic games. He was also a member of the 1994 team that qualified for its first Olympic appearance. In 2002, Palffy scored the game-winning goal that secured Slovakia a spot in the World Championship gold-medal game. He set up Peter Bondra's game-winning goal in the final two minutes of the gold-medal game to clinch gold over Russia.
Palffy was the flagbearer for his country at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Also among the inductees are Sweden's Jorgen Jonsson, USA's Mike Modano, and the greatest female hockey player of all-time, Hayley Wickenheiser. Soviet national team player and Kazakhstan head coach Boris Alexandrov will be inducted as a builder.
The induction ceremony will take place on May 26 in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, prior to the World Championship medal games.
