Washington Capitals legend Peter Bondra was honored by his home country on Thursday.
Bondra was officially inducted into Slovakia’s Hockey Hall of Fame during a hockey gala at Bratislava Castle. Bondra was originally announced for the Hall in 2021, joining New York Islanders’ great Zigmund Palffy, who was tabbed for the 2022 honor.
“It’s a shame that we never played together in the same NHL team,” Bondra said during his acceptance speech according to sport.sk’s Tomáš Prokop.
What an honor being inducted into Slovakia’s Hockey Hall of Fame. Thank you to everyone who supported & helped me along the way! 🇸🇰 🏒 pic.twitter.com/Ywns2eYAFt
— Peter Bondra (@PeterBondra12) August 13, 2022
Prokop reported that the 54-year-old Bondra received a standing ovation from the crowd and former Capital Zdeno Chara was the first to start applauding once his speech was over.
Bondra scored 503 goals and registered 389 assists in the NHL. He led the league in goals twice, earned five All-Star Game nominations, and helped push the Capitals to its first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1998. Bondra’s biggest moment of his career, however, happened while he was representing his home country in 2002. Bondra scored the gold medal-winning goal against Russia, giving Slovakia its only World Championship title.
Bondra represented Slovakia internationally five times in his career, captaining the team in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Bondra won bronze at the 2003 World Championship and participated in two Olympic tournaments (1998 Nagano, 2006 Turin), scoring five goals in eight games. Bondra was awarded the Golden Puck, as Slovakia’s player of the year, three different times (1998, 2002, 2003) in his career and was named to the IIHF’s post-tournament All-Star Team once. He also briefly played for HC Kosice’s championship-winning team during the NHL lockout in 1994-95.
Upon retirement, Bondra served as general manager of Slovakia’s national team from 2007 to 2011.
Bondra is also an honored member of the IIHF Hall of Fame, receiving that nod in 2016.
“I’d like to thank Slovakian hockey,” Bondra said then. “I was always proud to play for my country, Olympics or World Championships. My dream was to always play for the national team and score the game-winning goal for a gold medal. My dream came true.”
There are still other honors Bondra may receive in the future. He is currently one of five players who have scored 500 NHL goals and eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame, but has not received the nod yet. Bondra also has not had his number retired by the Capitals yet, despite no players wearing no. 12 since 2006.
During Thursday’s gala event, Juraj Slafkovský — the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft — was also named the winner of Slovakia’ player of the year, best forward, and best under-20 player.
Headline photo: @PeterBondra12/Twitter
