| Mikhail Grabovski | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 31, 1984 Potsdam, East Germany |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb) |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team Former teams |
Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens (NHL) Dynamo Moscow (RSL) Neftekhimik (RSL) |
| National team | Belarus |
| NHL Draft | 150th overall, 2004 Montreal Canadiens |
| Playing career | 2003–present |
Michail Jurjevič Hraboúski (Belarusian: Міхаіл Юр'евiч Грабоўскі; born January 31, 1984), better known as Mikhail Grabovski (Russian: Михаил Грабовский), or affectionately by fans as Grabo, is a Belarusian professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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Grabovski was born in Potsdam, East Germany, where his father, Yury, worked in construction. The family returned to their native Belarus (then a Soviet Socialist Republic) when he was three years old. Grabovski was trained by Russian-educated coaches in the Yunost Minsk youth hockey program.
Grabovski was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 150th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and played his first NHL game with Montreal on January 6, 2007, against the New York Rangers. He played three games in the NHL before being sent back down to Montreal's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Grabovski helped the Hamilton Bulldogs win the AHL Calder Cup Championship in 2006-07 season.
Grabovski started the 2007–08 season with the Canadiens, recording his first NHL point (an assist) on October 20, 2007, against the Buffalo Sabres and his first goal two days later against the Boston Bruins. After a March 6, 2008 game in Phoenix for which he was a healthy scratch, Grabovski, apparently frustrated by his exclusion from the lineup, flew to Los Angeles ahead of the rest of the team to speak with his agent, creating controversy in Montreal.
Grabovski was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3, 2008, in exchange for the draft rights to Greg Pateryn and a 2010 second round pick. He was suspended for three games in January 2009 for shoving an official during an altercation with his fellow Belarusian countryman Sergei Kostitsyn of the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he has maintained an ongoing feud dating back to his time with the Canadiens. Grabovski went on to finish with 20 goals and 48 points in his rookie season leading all NHL Eastern Conference rookies in scoring.
The Toronto Maple Leafs rewarded Grabovski for his rookie season performance by re-signing him to a 3 year contract worth a total of $8.7 million. This contract represents an average annual cap hit of $2.9 million.[1] His 58 points in the 2010-2011 NHL regular season is the highest amongst Maple Leaf centres since Mats Sundin's 78 points in the 2007-2008 NHL season.
He has represented Belarus in international play. He scored four goals and was the first star in one game (against tournament hosts Austria) in the 2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. Grabovski was selected to play for his country in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.[2] However, he did not play due to injury.[3] He did, however, participate at the 2010 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Belarus National men's ice hockey team.[4] Grabovski was named captain of Team Belarus on the eve of 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.[5] Grabovski played in seven events for team Belarus.
Grabovski and his girlfriend, Kate Van Alstyne had their first child, a daughter named Lily on December 30, 2010. He missed the Leafs' game against the Columbus Blue Jackets that night to be present at the birth.[6] Grabovski was arrested during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, when he was involved in a bar fight.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2003–04 | Neftekhimik | RSL | 45 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Neftekhimik | RSL | 60 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2005–06 | Dynamo Moscow | RSL | 48 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2006–07 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 66 | 17 | 37 | 54 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 21 | ||
| 2006–07 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 12 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 24 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 78 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 92 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 59 | 10 | 25 | 35 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 81 | 29 | 29 | 58 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| RSL totals | 153 | 32 | 49 | 81 | 86 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | ||||
| NHL totals | 245 | 62 | 88 | 150 | 170 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Place | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Belarus | WJC | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Belarus | WC | 18th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | |
| 2005 | Belarus | WC | 10th | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2006 | Belarus | WC | 6th | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Belarus | WC | 9th | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2010 | Belarus | WC | 10th | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2011 | Belarus | WC | 14th | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| International totals | 35 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 20 | ||||