# Igor Liba

Igor Liba (born November 4, 1960) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey player. He played 37 games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings during the 1988–89 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1979 to 2003, was mainly spent in the Czechoslovak Extraliga and in other European leagues. Internationally Liba played for the Czechslovakian national team in several tournaments, including the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the latter. In 2005 Liba was inducted into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the player category of the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

## Career

Igor Liba played for ZPA Prešov (1970–1978), HC Košice (1978–82, 1984–88, 1991–92, 1997–98 and 1998–99) and HC Dukla Jihlava (1982–84) in Czechoslovakia, after 1993 in Slovakia mostly for HK VTJ Spišská Nová Ves.
In 1983 he was drafted by the Calgary Flames. Played with the New York Rangers (10 games, 2 goals and 5 assists) and Los Angeles Kings (37 games, 7 goals and 18 assists) in the 1988–89.
He also played for EHC Biel - Switzerland, it:Hockey Club Fiemme - Italy, TuTo Turku - Finland, HK VTJ Spišská Nová Ves - Slovakia, HK VTJ Trebišov - Slovakia, HC Zeltweg - Austria and HK Dragon Prešov - Slovakia.
Internationally, he played for the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team, and was inducted into the player category of the IIHF Hall of Fame during the medal ceremony of the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1977–78 | ZPA Prešov | CSSR-3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79 | ZPA Prešov | CSSR-3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979–80 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 42 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980–81 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 43 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981–82 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 44 | 35 | 18 | 53 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1982–83 | ASD Dukla Jihlava | CSSR | 43 | 27 | 18 | 45 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1983–84 | ASD Dukla Jihlava | CSSR | 41 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1984–85 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 44 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985–86 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 34 | 25 | 29 | 54 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1986–87 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 31 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1987–88 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 42 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988–89 | New York Rangers | NHL | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988–89 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 27 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1989–90 | TJ VSŽ Košice | CSSR | 44 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990–91 | HC VSZ Košice | CSSR | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 1990–91 | EHC Biel | NDA | 18 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1991–92 | HC VSZ Košice | CSSR | 16 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991–92 | HC Cavalese | ITA | 18 | 11 | 34 | 45 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| 1992–93 | TUTO Hockey | FIN-2 | 44 | 22 | 34 | 56 | 111 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993–94 | EV Zeltweg | AUT-2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1994–95 | EV Zeltweg | AUT | 30 | 30 | 23 | 53 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995–96 | EV Zeltweg | AUT | 33 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996–97 | HK VTJ Spišská Nová Ves | SVK | 46 | 26 | 25 | 51 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997–98 | HC Košice | SVK | 32 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997–98 | HK Trebisov | SVK-2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998–99 | HC VSZ Košice | SVK | 52 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–00 | EV Zeltweg | AUT-2 | 30 | 24 | 36 | 60 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2000–01 | HK VTJ Farmakol Prešov | SVK-2 | 36 | 17 | 25 | 42 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002–03 | HK Spisska Nova Ves | SVK | 20 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002–03 | HK VTJ Farmakol Prešov | SVK-2 | 20 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — |
| CSSR totals | CSSR totals | CSSR totals | 426 | 220 | 226 | 446 | 331 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 37 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1979 | Czechoslovakia | WJC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1980 | Czechoslovakia | WJC | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 1982 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 1983 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| 1984 | Czechoslovakia | OLY | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| 1984 | Czechoslovakia | CC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 1985 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 16 |
| 1986 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| 1987 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 1987 | Czechoslovakia | CC | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 1988 | Czechoslovakia | OLY | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
| 1992 | Czechoslovakia | OLY | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1992 | Czechoslovakia | WC | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 88 | 24 | 41 | 65 | 92 |