Pavol Demitra, a former Slovak professional ice hockey player, was worth $36 million at the time of his death.
Pavol Demitra, who was born in Dubnica nad Vahom, Czechoslovakia in 1974, was a professional player who was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
Demitra was sold to the St. John’s in the latter part of 1996.
He played in three NHL All-Star games in 1999, 2000, and 2000 for the Louis Blues and was honored with the 2000 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
With almost 500 games under his belt, Demitra scored 493 goals in 2014 and ranked fifth on the Blues’ all-time scoring list.
Following his time overseas due to the NHL lockout, he was offered a free agent contract by the Los Angeles Kings.
Demitra was traded to the Minnesota Wild and then signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks. He played in Vancouver for two seasons before switching to Lokomotiv in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Demitra was a member of the Czechoslovakian men’s national team and earned several medals before joining the Slovakian team.
He participated in three Olympics.
The plane carrying the Lokomotiv team and coaches to their season opener crashed on the Volga River bank near Yaroslavl, Russia, after takeoff, resulting in Demitra’s death on September 7, 2011.
The entire group of 44 people onboard perished.
He left behind his wife, Maja, and two children.
Maja was pregnant with the couple’s third child when her husband died.
