Evgeni Nabokov

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Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Nickname(s)	John[1] Nabby
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
NHL Team	San Jose Sharks
Nationality	Russia &  Kazakhstan
Born	July 25, 1975 (1975-07-25) (age 32), Ust-Kamenogorsk, U.S.S.R.
NHL Draft	219th overall, 1994 San Jose Sharks
Pro career	1995 – present

Evgeni Viktorovich Nabokov (Russian: Евге́ний Ви́кторович Набо́ков) (born July 25, 1975 in Ust-Kamenogorsk, U.S.S.R., now Kazakhstan), is a professional ice hockey goaltender for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League.

Nabokov was selected by San Jose in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft (9th round, 219th overall). When he started playing in North America, he went by John, rather than Evgeni,^[2] fearing that English speakers would have a hard time pronouncing his name.^[1] However, this change did not last.

Over six seasons in the NHL, all with San Jose, Nabokov has become the Sharks leader in nearly every goaltending category, including games played, wins, and shutouts.^[3]

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Russia and minor league 1.2 San Jose Sharks 2 Contracts 3 International career 4 Awards and Achievements 5 Career statistics 5.1 Regular season 5.2 International statistics 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Russia and minor league

San Jose Head Scout Tim Burke saw Nabokov on an advertisement during his trip to Russia while Burke went to scout another player.^[1] Taken late in the ninth round, the Sharks had never seen him play; rather, they were more interested in the skill of Nabokov's father, a professional goaltender who played 18 years in Kazakhstan.^[4]

[edit] San Jose Sharks

After a few years in the AHL, Nabokov played his first NHL game on the first day of the new millennium, stopping his first four shots, all breakaways,^{[citation needed]} when he replaced Steve Shields in a game against the Nashville Predators.

On January 19th, 2000, Nabokov started in his first NHL game, playing against the Colorado Avalanche and famed goalie Patrick Roy. Impressively, Nabokov stopped all 39 shots he faced in a 0-0 tie. In his first four appearances, Nabokov stopped all but one of his first 104 shots, and the one goal he allowed was when Stephane Matteau put the puck into an empty net while Nabokov was skating to the bench on a delayed penalty.

In the second game of the 2001 season, Shields hurt his ankle, leaving San Jose without a number #1 goalie. Instead of giving the job to the very well known Miikka Kiprusoff, whom the Sharks brass considered the "goalie of the future," they left Kiprusoff in the AHL so he could get more experience, and gave the starting position to Nabokov, and he ran away with it, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year. Also, he played in the 2001 All-star game and took San Jose to the playoffs.

On March 10, 2002 he became the first netminder in NHL history to score a powerplay goal, doing so against the Vancouver Canucks. He was also the first European goaltender to score a goal.

Nabokov was considered one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL, and is often ranked as one of the top ten, if not top five goaltenders in the NHL by magazines like ESPN The Magazine and The Hockey News. However, the 2005-2006 season was an off year for Nabokov. His save percentage of under .900 was a big concern to the team. More notably, he was relegated to the role of backup goaltender, in deference to a red-hot Vesa Toskala.

Nabokov is known for his excellent positioning and his ability to challenge shooters, but has recently been hampered by a groin injury. During the 2006-07 NHL season, Nabokov split the starting goaltending duties with Toskala. As of March 18, 2007, the Sharks have played 78 games, with Nabokov starting 45 [1]. Nabokov played all 5 games in the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2007 NHL playoffs, helping the Sharks defeat the Nashville Predators in 5 games.

During the first half of the 2007-08 NHL season, Nabokov started the first 43 games for the San Jose Sharks, however on January 13, 2008 in Anaheim he received his first day off when Thomas Greiss started his first NHL game.

Nabokov was recognized as one of the 'Three Stars' for the NHL in the last week of December 2007, along with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers. ^[5] In addition to that honor, Nabokov was named the “Sharks Player of the Month” by Seagate Technology in December. Since the 1996-97 season, Seagate Technology has recognized Sharks players who made contributions to further the team’s accomplishments and makes a donation of $2,500 to The Sharks Foundation on the players’ behalf. Nabokov holds the franchise-record for having won this award nine times. ^[6]

Nabokov played in his second NHL All-Star Game on January 27, 2008. He stopped all eight shots that came at him in the second period, making it the first time since 2002 that a goalie has played a period where no goals were scored. Nabokov secured the scoreless period when he blocked both of Ilya Kovalchuk’s shots in the last minute of the second period. ^[7]

[edit] Contracts

During the 2003 season, Nabokov held out, refusing to sign San Jose's proposed contract. After making only US$1 million for two years of stellar play, he wanted much more. He only missed five games before the Sharks met his demands, signing him to a two-year contract.^[8] When he finally signed a contract, he struggled to regain his form, as he had taken too long of a break. Later, he remarked that holding out was extremely unsportsmanlike, and that he would never do it again. He held to his word when he avoided arbitration by signing a two-year deal worth US$4.425 million per year in 2004, even when players comparable to him were getting more than US$6 million per year.

Despite his less-than-stellar play during the 2006 season, Nabokov was signed to a four-year contract extension worth roughly US$21.5 million. The contract has a no-trade clause that will be activated, since San Jose made the playoffs.

[edit] International career

While he is a Russian citizen, he was previously denied permission by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to play for Russia, because he had played one game for Kazakhstan as a 19-year-old in the 1994 World Championships. In 2005, Nabokov was granted permission to play for Russia in the IIHF World Championships, but declined. Nabokov had tried to gain the IIHF's permission to play for Russia at the 2002 Winter Olympics, but failed as there were regulations in place forbidding players from representing two different countries.^[9] He was finally allowed to play for Russia in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, after being given an exemption by the IIHF,^[10] and was named to the Russian team for the 2008 World Championships ^[11]. During the 2008 World Championships he posted back-to-back shut-outs before defeating Canada 5-4 in the Gold Medal game. Team Russia won the 2008 IIHF World Championships, earning Nabokov his first gold medal.

Played for Kazakhstan in:

• 1994 World Championships

Played for Russia in:

• 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2008 World Championships

[edit] Awards and Achievements

• Calder Memorial Trophy - 2001
• NHL All-Rookie Team - 2001
• NHL All-Star Appearances - 2001 & 2008
• Best Goalkeeper - 2008 IIHF World Championship

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1997–98	Kentucky Thoroughblades	AHL		33	10	21	2	1866	122	0	3.92
1998–99	Kentucky Thoroughblades	AHL		43	26	14	1	2429	106	5	2.62
1999–00	Kentucky Thoroughblades	AHL		2	1	1	0	120	3	1	1.50
1999–00	Cleveland Lumberjacks	IHL		20	12	4	3	1164	52	0	2.68
1999–00	San Jose Sharks	NHL		11	2	2	1	2645	15	1	2.17
2000–01	San Jose Sharks	NHL		66	32	21	7	3700	135	6	2.19
2001–02	San Jose Sharks	NHL		67	37	24	5	3901	149	7	2.29
2002–03	San Jose Sharks	NHL		55	19	28	8	3227	146	3	2.71
2003–04	San Jose Sharks	NHL		59	31	19	8	3455	127	9	2.21
2004–05	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	RSL		14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005–06	San Jose Sharks	NHL		44	16	19	7	2515	129	1	3.10
2006–07	San Jose Sharks	NHL		50	25	16	4	2777	106	7	2.29
2007–08	San Jose Sharks	NHL		77	46	21	8	4560	163	6	2.14
NHL Totals				430	208	150	48	24610	974	40	2.37

[edit] International statistics

Season	Team	Event		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1994	Kazakhstan	WC		3	--	--	--	--	--	--	2.57
2006	Russia	Oly		7	5	2	0	359	8	3	1.34
2008	Russia	WC		5	5	0	0	302	9	2	1.78
Senior Int'l Totals				7	5	2	0	359	8	3	1.34

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Evgeni Nabokov's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Awards
Preceded by Scott Gomez	Winner of the Calder Trophy 2001	Succeeded by Dany Heatley