Ladislav Ščurko

Ladislav Ščurko
Born	(1986-04-04) 4 April 1986 Gelnica, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Slovak 1. Liga team Former teams	HC Prešov HK Spišská Nová Ves HC Košice HK Trebišov HK Slovan Gelnica HC 46 Bardejov HK Dukla Michalovce HC 07 Detva
NHL draft	170th overall, 2004 Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career	2007–2009 2011–present

Ladislav Ščurko (born 4 April 1986) is a Slovak professional ice hockey center who currently playing for HC Prešov in Slovak 1. Liga.

He previously played for HC Košice until he confessed to a murder of an ice hockey referee in April 2009.

Playing career

Ščurko started his junior career by playing in 37 games with his junior team, HK VTJ Spisská Nová Ves, in Slovakia. He scored 44 points on 20 goals and 24 assists. Following that season he was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round, 170th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Shortly after, he was drafted seventh overall in the CHL Import Draft by the Seattle Thunderbirds. In his first year in the Western Hockey League (WHL), he scored 42 points, which put him in fifth in the league for points scored by a rookie. He also set a Thunderbird record with a nine-game point streak from December 11, 2004 through January 12, 2005, during which he scored 12 points. He enjoyed similar success in fewer games the following season.

Murder

Ladislav Ščurko
Born	Ladislav Ščurko (1986-04-04) April 4, 1986 Gelnica
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Eight years' imprisonment
Details
Victims	1 killed (Marek Liptaj)
Span of crimes	January 2008 –
Country	Slovakia
Date apprehended	April 23, 2009 (2009-04-23)

On April 23, 2009, Ščurko confessed to a murder of referee Marek Liptaj in January 2008 at a motorway service area near Kosice. He admitted that he killed Liptaj by stabbing him fourteen times with a knife. Liptaj's body was hastily buried in a forest. No motive was revealed, but police said the crime was not premeditated.

On July 16, 2012, Ščurko was convicted of the murder; however, because psychiatric examinations found that Ščurko committed the act in a state of diminished sanity, the court sentenced him to the minimum penalty of eight years in prison.

First imprisonment

He served his first sentence from April 2009 to November 2011.

Life after the first release

Ščurko was released from jail on November 8, 2011 and played his first hockey game after the release from prison on December 3, 2011. He played for his boyhood club HK Slovan Gelnica.

Second imprisonment

Ščurko served the rest of his sentence from September 2014 to December 2015 and was finally conditionally released before Christmas in 2015.

Playing career after the second release

He signed a contract with HC 46 Bardejov, which plays in the second-level ice hockey league in Slovakia, only one week after the release from prison. He played his first game for HC 46 Bardejov on December 22, 2015.

Since the 2017–2018 season, Ščurko has been playing in Slovak Extraliga for HC 07 Detva.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002–03	HK Spišská Nová Ves	SVK U18
2003–04	HK Spišská Nová Ves	SVK U20		37	20	24	44	102		6	6	2	8	8
2003–04	HK Spišská Nová Ves	SVK.2		30	2	3	5	16		2	0	1	1	2
2004–05	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL		67	17	25	42	40		12	5	1	6	10
2005–06	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL		64	17	26	43	41		7	2	4	6	2
2006–07	Tri–City Americans	WHL		12	4	6	10	18		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	HC Košice	Slovak		33	0	2	2	30		16	1	0	1	18
2007–08	HK VTJ Trebišov	SVK.2		17	7	4	11	48		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	HC Košice	Slovak		52	7	5	12	38		18	0	1	1	16
2008–09	HK Trebišov	SVK.2		11	9	10	19	45		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	HK Slovan Gelnica	SVK.3		10	19	7	26	10		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	HK Trebišov	SVK.2		10	15	9	24	8		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	HK Trebišov	SVK.2		20	11	15	26	20		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Bemaco HC 46 Bardejov	SVK.2		24	15	11	26	39		10	5	6	11	8
2012–13	HK Slovan Gelnica	SVK.3		7	8	5	13	6		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Bemaco HC 46 Bardejov	SVK.2		40	26	23	49	26		13	6	8	14	14
2013–14	HK Slovan Gelnica	SVK.3		2	4	2	6	2		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Bemaco HC 46 Bardejov	SVK.2		13	3	4	7	4		12	3	2	5	18
2016–17	HK Dukla Michalovce	SVK.2		44	20	27	47	34		7	3	5	8	8
2017–18	HC 07 Orin Detva	Slovak		54	17	11	28	80		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	HC 07 Detva	Slovak		55	12	18	30	92		9	4	1	5	4
2019–20	HC 07 WPC Detva	Slovak		34	11	11	22	36		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	HC 07 WPC Detva	Slovak		48	9	9	18	67		4	0	0	0	0
2021–22	HK Spišská Nová Ves	Slovak		43	2	8	10	30		3	0	0	0	2
SVK.2 totals				226	112	110	222	256		44	17	22	39	50
Slovak totals				319	58	64	122	373		50	5	2	7	40

International

Medal record
Representing Slovakia
Men's ice hockey
World U18 Championships
	2003 Yaroslavl

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2003	Slovakia	WJC18			7	0	2	2	2
2004	Slovakia	WJC18	6th		6	0	3	3	6
2005	Slovakia	WJC	7th		6	0	0	0	6
2006	Slovakia	WJC	8th		6	2	0	2	16
Junior totals					25	2	5	7	30

Awards and honors

Award	Year
Slovak
Champion	2009

Records

• Seattle Thunderbirds' franchise record for longest point streak: 9 games (12 points, from 11 December 2004 to 12 January 2005)

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database