Topic: Peter Bondra

Peter Bondra (Born February 7, 1968) is a former Slovak professional ice hockey player, who is currently the general manager of the Slovak national team. Bondra became the 37th player in NHL history to score 500 NHL goals.

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. Since 1982, Bondra and his two older brothers Vladimír and Juraj, were raised only by their mother Nadežda as their father had died in that year. He was still a Soviet citizen when he arrived in the USA, later obtaining a Slovak passport and citizenship in 1993. Currently, Peter and his wife Luba, as well as their daughter Petra and two sons, David and Nick, reside in Riva, Maryland.

Peter was drafted by the Capitals in 1990, 156th overall, but before joining the team in 1990-91 season he played for hockey team TJ VSŽ Košice (now called HC Košice) for four seasons from 1986-90 in Czechoslovakia. In Washington, Bondra blossomed to become one of the more prolific goal-scorers of the 1990s, while trying to fulfill his dream of winning the Stanley Cup. His best chance to do so 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 .