ESPNMAG.com - The Zen of Ziggy

If Ziggy Palffy had his way, you would not be reading this sentence. Or looking at these pictures. Or even thinking the two words Ziggy Palffy.

This story is about him, yes. But this isn't his story. This isn't his idea, isn't his inspiration, isn't his style. The highest-scoring player on the NHL's highest-scoring team would prefer to have his name limited to the box score and his image blurred together with the rest of the Los Angeles Kings. He wants to be no more apparent in the team photo than the equipment guy. Ziggy, quite honestly, would just as soon be zilch.

"You have to push him into the spotlight," says Zora Czoborova, Palffy's fiancée. "You have to know when to push and how to push. He's a very closed person. He doesn't have a lot of friends because he doesn't open up to a lot of people."

Palffy is private, to be sure. He just proposed to Zora, a fitness model, but it was no Jason Sehorn-Angie Harmon-Jay Leno thing. Palffy isn't about to share any details: "That's personal." He lives in an exclusive community, behind a gate and a guard: "That's how I like it." While flipping through photos, he quickly snatches away the one of him and Zora kissing:

"That's ours."

But this closed-shade mentality is only part of why Palffy's story has seen so little light. Because, even when he's on the ice, with no gate and no guard to hide him, Palffy doesn't care about attention, genuinely doesn't give one damn if anyone out there recognizes him.

The Kings share a training facility with the Lakers, a two-headed celebrity engine churning out a constant debate about who's more famous, Shaq or Kobe. Palffy's team recently ran an ad campaign with the faces of its players on city buses. The Kings decided to use Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake, who are immensely more popular in Los Angeles than Palffy. Then again, the comic-strip character Ziggy is more popular in L.A. than Palffy.

"Jealous? You've got to be kidding," he says. "Rob and Luc deserve everything they get. They've been here a long time." Robitaille, in his second tour with Los Angeles, is in his 12th season with the Kings. Blake has been with them since 1990. Palffy, on the other hand, is still a relative newcomer. He was traded to L.A. in June 1999, when it was apparent the New York Islanders couldn't afford someone so good. "Rob and Luc worked hard for the recognition they have," Palffy says. "There could be jealousy somewhere else, but not here."

So it doesn't matter that Robitaille is the player with the fan chant, the sound of "Luuuuuuc" coming each time he touches the puck. It's no big deal that coach Andy Murray recently had a jersey autographed by the team and wanted Blake's signature most. It's not a problem that Palffy, a Slovakian, can be nearly forgotten in a market also featuring Anaheim's Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. Hockey is a game of nicknames, and the closest Palffy comes to a nickname is, well, Ziggy (his real name: Zigmund). One Southern California writer made an effort, calling him Palff Daddy and Zigmaster, but Palffy shed those tries as easily as a sweatshirt.

But don't start thinking this guy is tiptoeing around town. It's not like he's a passenger on those Kings-decorated city buses. He drives a convertible Jaguar, earns $5 million a year and is about to marry a model. But the beauty for Palffy is that this is L.A., where Jaguars and millions and models are as everyday as rush hour. "He just plays hockey," Murray says. "Everything else that comes with it, he would rather not deal with. I'm not sure he understands all the other things. To him, he just wants the puck tossed onto the ice and let's go."

Okay, fine. But what if you want more? Sure, you can talk about Palffy's impossible skills, his surprising passing, his even more surprising physical play. That he helped turn around a team that wasn't only bad but boring. But how do you fill in the rest of what this 28-year-old hockey hermit is about? Well, here are a few Ziggy Zingers:

Palffy has a poodle. That's right. A black, fluffy-tailed ankle-biter. Worse, he has a poodle that's named after an opera: Aida.

When he played with the Islanders, Palffy owned a $1.95 million home on Long Island that included glass bricks and a clay tennis court. And he hasn't exactly set down roots out West: He rents a place in Los Angeles.

Next to hockey, Palffy's favorite sport is tennis. His highlight was meeting Pete Sampras after a Kings exhibition game last year in Las Vegas. He charged toward Sampras in the locker room, grabbing his hand with enough enthusiasm to almost yank it off. Then the two stood and talked for a few minutes. All the while Palffy was naked.

Palffy wasn't the only Ziggy in his house. His dad is also Ziggy. In fact, Palffy's first-born son will likely be a Ziggy too.

When he first came to America in 1991, Palffy didn't speak a word of English, and he had no idea how to operate this thing they were calling a microwave oven.

During games, this generally quiet man becomes a ranting loon. "He's always screaming at the other team and the refs," Robitaille says. "Half Slovakian, half English. None of us can tell what he's saying. He's swearing and screaming. It's funny. He'll scream at the puck and the ice, too. I'll look at him and start laughing. Then he starts laughing back."

But it's when he jumps over the boards and onto the ice that Palffy creates a more meaningful chaos. He always has been a scorer, since his three 40-plus-goal seasons with the Islanders. The Kings knew they were getting at least that much when they traded for Palffy. He had averaged a point a game for the Islanders, who, during Palffy's five seasons, were 120-208-48 and knew the playoffs only from TV. Former Islanders coach Rick Bowness once predicted Palffy would score 60 goals in a season, saying, "That's probably not even a challenge." You could read his annual goal totals -- 43, 48, 45 during one stretch -- and easily conclude he was a sniper.

But the Kings didn't know about Palffy's competitiveness, how tough he plays. And how well he passes the puck. Says Robitaille: "There's Wayne [Gretzky] way out front of everyone else. But after that, Ziggy might be the best I've ever seen." Palffy's pump fake on his slap shot is so good, he routinely hits unsuspecting teammates with passes on the backs of their skates. "When three-quarters of the building knows he's going to shoot, that's when he passes," Blake says. "That's what makes him great. He doesn't do the obvious."

If he doesn't do the obvious, Palffy also doesn't do the easy. He'll slip pucks through slivers and force passes into crowds. He does things during games his teammates wouldn't try even in practice. He regularly has Murray turning to one of his assistants and asking, "How can we teach other guys to do that?"

"There will be two players between us and he'll flip a saucer right onto my stick," Blake says. "He doesn't think twice about making plays like that. That's another great thing about him. He wants those two guys standing there. He wants the challenge."

And, more than anything, Palffy wants to win. Sure, that's often a lip-service theme among today's superstars, especially the ones, like Palffy, who have never won a playoff game. But, like his indifference toward fame, Palffy's team-first feelings seem awfully authentic.

Because of the Kings' improving depth, Palffy has been playing fewer minutes this season. So far, he hasn't said a word about it. He also has shown a commitment to playing defense and a willingness to toss himself around. Palffy was so emphatic with his physical play when he first joined the Kings that some of his teammates thought it was funny. Here was a 5'10", 180-pound scorer firing hips and shoulders into his larger counterparts in practice.

"You'd think a star player would care more about personal stats, but Ziggy's different," says forward Ian Laperriere. "I don't think he cares one bit about leading the league in scoring. He's not looking for that. He's not looking for an ESPN crew to come in asking about him. He likes things just the way they are right now."

Palffy is also healthier and in better shape than he was last season -- something that has always been a concern for him. For a guy who prefers to blend in, Palffy could disappear at a nude beach. His body looks about as appropriate for the NHL as a pair of track shoes. Unlike his game, there is little definition or muscle. He's not the least bit chubby, mind you, but he's also not the least bit anything else. His fiancée is the one with the toned body in this relationship. She used to compete in professional aerobics, and often works out with Palffy. The two recently opened a health club in Slovakia named after her: Zora Centrum. (That's right. This family will be Zora, Ziggy and Ziggy III, if it all works out.) When the Kings learned Palffy was thinking about investing in the club, Murray joked, "I hope he buys a membership."

"He's like a child sometimes," Zora says of Palffy's off-season workouts. "I need to find ways for him to have fun doing whatever it is we're doing."

Palffy spends every off-season back home in Slovakia. Asked if he would return there when his NHL career is over, he says, "Oh, yes, definitely. The next day." That only makes sense, seeing how he has little interest in America and its celebrity machine. There is comfort back home, where most of his family still lives, and there is a secluded cottage where he and Zora can retreat.

"I'm going to stay on the ground," Palffy says. "I like my style of life just the way it is. When you become famous, there's more pressure on you. More people want to get close to you. That's not for me. If you jump higher, you fall down farther." And Palffy has no expectation of falling down at all right now. In fact, he sees himself reaching new heights with the Kings, Stanley Cup heights, a Ziggy zenith. Not that he cares if you know.

Being Ziggy Palffy is easy and simple today, especially now that this story is over.

This article appears in the December 11 issue of ESPN The Magazine.