Satan comes from the tiny village of Jacovice. At 17, he was already lining up for nine games in the second Slovak league for the VTJ Topolcany hockey club. His admission into top-level hockey came with Dukla Trencin, one of the best Slovak clubs, in the last year of the old joint Czech-Slovak league.
As one of the eight Trencin hockey players who lined up for the now independent Slovakia's national team, he made the trip to the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in February 1994. Also on the team was veteran Peter Stastny, a future member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Zigmund Palffy, who had chosen Trencin over a New York Islanders farm club and who was developing a reputation with his dangerous shooting.
Almost no one knew about the up-and-coming Satan. The Edmonton Oilers had drafted him one year before, but they showed about as much interest in their 111th picked player as would the public. Yet in the Olympics, Satan scored nine goals in eight games and quite unexpectedly became the best scorer of the tournament. However, after Czechoslovakia split up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the latter wasn't considered the Successor State and had to fight to regain its clout in international competition.
In the spring of 1994, during World Championship play within the C group, Satan was the best scorer on his team with seven goals in six games. The team progressed and a year later played in the B group. Satan again scored seven goals and took over top spot on the Slovak scoring charts. In 1996 he helped Slovakia to premiere among the elite in the competition, but the team came up empty-handed and represented the country at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
There wasn't much faith in him in North America. He played 14 games in the IHL for independent teams from Detroit and San Diego, scoring only one goal. However, during the 1994-95 season, he scored 25 goals in 24 games for Edmonton's AHL affiliate in Cape Breton, helping him push his way into the Edmonton lineup during training camp in the summer. Injuries and illness, however, hindered his play.
In March 1997 he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Barrie Moore and Craig Millar. In addition to a good nose for goals, his assets always included excellent physical conditioning and brilliant skating. In the Sabres jersey, his productivity increased. In the 1998-99 season, he reached the 40-goal mark and was the team's best scorer and was a key player in the Sabres run to later that spring to the Stanley Cup final against the Dallas Stars who would eventualy win the series in six games.
Over the next four seasons Satan continued to be an offensive leader for the Sabres and was named to Slovakia's 2002 Olympic Team, however, he was never able to suit up for his country, after they failed to qualify for round robin play. Following the disappointment of the Salt Lake City, Satan and his Slovak teammates didn't have to wait long to redeem themselves, capturing the gold medal at the 2002 World Championships.
Following a gold medal performance at the 2002 World Championships, Satan continued his strong play for the Sabres over the course of the next two seasons and returned to the Worlds in 2004. In the summer of 2005, Satan was acquired by the New York Islanders. In his first season as an Islander, Satan co-led the club in points with 66 and led the team in goals with 17. Over the next two seasons, Satan failed to match his stat totals from 2005-06 but managed to help the club sneak into the playoffs in 2006-07.
Following his lowest point producing season of his career, the Islanders opted not to resign the Slovakian. In the summer of 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed the forward to a 1-year, $3.5 million contact, a move that would prove fortuitous for both Satan and the Penguins as the team would go on to win the Stanley Cup that June.
Throughout his career, Satan has been a foot soldier for the Slovaks' on the international stage, including; World Junior Championship (1994), Olympics (1994, 2002, 2006, 2010), World Cup (1996, 2004) and World Championship (1996, 2000, 2002-2005).
Though unable to find NHL work prior to the 2009-10 season, the year would not be a total write-off. He was named to represent Slovakia at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and on January 2, 2010, Satan signed a deal with the Boston Bruins for the remainder of the season.
