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 air crash that involved most of the team prior to the 2011 – 12 KHL season
2011 air crash
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
Pavol Demitra