Marek Svatos dies at age 34

Marek Svatos, a right wing who played seven NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators, died Saturday at the age of 34.
Selected by the Avalanche in the seventh round (No. 227) of the 2001 NHL Draft, Svatos had 100 goals and 172 points in 344 games, 316 with the Avalanche. He last played in the NHL in 2010-11 with the Senators.

Avalanche executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic played with Svatos in Colorado from 2003-09.
"The entire Avalanche organization is extremely saddened by this news," Sakic said in a statement. "Marek was a tremendous person, a talented hockey player and a great teammate. Our thoughts, prayers and our deepest sympathy to his wife, children and his entire family."
Svatos had NHL career highs of 32 goals and 50 points in 61 games as a rookie in 2005-06 before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury. He had 26 goals in 62 games in 2007-08 until a knee injury kept him out of the final 16 games.
After leaving the NHL, Svatos played six games with HC Slovan Bratislava in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2012-13 and 26 games in 2013-14 with his hometown team, HC Kosice, in Slovakia.
Svatos played for Slovakia in the 2006 Torino Olympics, when he was scoreless in six games.