Sergei Zubov

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Sergei Zubov

Sergei Zubov warms up before a 2007 game.
Born (1970-07-22) July 22, 1970
Moscow, Russian SFSR, URS
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for CSKA Moscow
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Dallas Stars
SKA St. Petersburg
National team  Russia 
Unified Team &
 Soviet Union
NHL Draft 85th overall, 1990
New York Rangers
Playing career 1988–2010

Sergei Alexandrovich Zubov (Russian: Сергей Зубов; born July 22, 1970) is a former Russian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League as well as SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Zubov won Stanley Cups with the Rangers in 1994 and the Stars in 1999.

Playing career

He is considered one of the best offensive defensemen in NHL history. He played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1998, 1999, and 2000. He has also won two Stanley Cups, one with the New York Rangers in 1994, and the other with Dallas in 1999. In 1992, Zubov won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, playing for the Unified Team. He is also the NHL's all-time leading scorer among Russian defensemen, and the all-time leading scorer among defensemen in the history of the Stars franchise.

Zubov was drafted in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. Prior to this, he played for the Red Army's hockey team, HC CSKA Moscow, in Russia. He continued to play for the Red Army until 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. . Although Sergei spent some of his rookie season with New York's AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers, he played forty-nine games as a rookie for the Rangers, scoring 31 points, considered then to be above-average for a defenseman. Zubov's high-scoring ways continued, as he scored 12 goals and earned 77 assists during the 1993–94 season, which led the team in regular season scoring. He contributed 19 points to the Rangers' playoff campaign, as he, along with Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Alexei Kovalev became the first Russians to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.[1]

Zubov continued to play well for the Rangers, but on August 31, 1995, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Petr Nedvěd for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille. Zubov only spent one season in Pittsburgh, probably because he and team captain Mario Lemieux didn't get along, especially on the powerplay where both men wanted to be in control.[2] Ultimately, he was traded to the Dallas Stars on June 22, 1996 for Kevin Hatcher.

Although Zubov never again reached the scoring height of his 1993–94 season with the Rangers, due to a combination of Dallas's more defensive system and decreased scoring in general, he has earned all three of his trips to the All-Star game with the Stars. He never again reached an 80+ point total, but had 11 consecutive years of 40+ point seasons and 30+ assists.

He is also excellent defensively and while he has a well-sized body, he is known more for his positioning and puck-dislodging abilities out of corners rather than his checking abilities. He has been a mainstay on the penalty killing squad for several years now and has only recorded a negative plus/minus four times in his career, with two of them within his first three years in the leagues.

Zubov has always played a solid game, but for years went under the radar and did not garner any nominations for the NHL awards or the NHL First/Second All-Star teams. However, in the 2005–06 regular season, Zubov posted 71 points for his highest outing in over a decade – and also received his first Norris Trophy nomination.

Zubov and his wife, Irina, have two kids, Paul and Anastasia (Anna) Zubov. Now, his son attends Northeastern University in Boston and his daughter attends the International School of Moscow. Zubov missed nearly half of the 2007–08 NHL season with a sports hernia injury and most of the 2008–09 NHL season with a hip injury.

On July 30, 2009, he decided to leave the NHL as he signed a contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. He was also selected as a reserve by Team Russia for the 2010 Winter Olympics should an injury occur during the tournament.[3]

On April 18, 2011, it was reported that Zubov would officially retire due to hip-related injury problems.[4][5]

Awards

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
Gold 1992 Albertville Ice hockey

Legacy

  • Ranked No. 72 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
  • One of two Russian/Soviet-born defensemen (Alexei Zhitnik) to play in at least 1,000 NHL games.
  • One of the few hockey players to smoke cigarettes.
  • Zubov left the NHL as the league's all-time scoring leader for Russian-born defensemen.

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts +/− PIM GP G A Pts +/− PIM
1988–89 CSKA Moscow USSR 29 1 4 5 — 10 — — — — — —
1989–90 CSKA Moscow USSR 48 6 2 8 — 16 — — — — — —
1990–91 CSKA Moscow USSR 41 6 5 11 — 12 — — — — — —
1991–92 CSKA Moscow USSR 36 4 7 11 — 6 — — — — — —
1992–93 CSKA Moscow RSL 1 0 1 1 — 0 — — — — — —
1992–93 Binghamton Rangers AHL 30 7 29 36 — 14 11 5 5 10 — 2
1992–93 New York Rangers NHL 49 8 23 31 -1 −1 4 — — — — — —
1993–94 Binghamton Rangers AHL 2 1 2 3 — 0 — — — — — —
1993–94 New York Rangers NHL 78 12 77 89 +20 39 22 5 14 19 +10 0
1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 38 10 26 36 -2 −2 18 10 3 8 11 -9 −9 2
1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 64 11 55 66 +28 22 18 1 14 15 +9 26
1996–97 Dallas Stars NHL 78 13 30 43 +19 24 7 0 3 3 +4 2
1997–98 Dallas Stars NHL 73 10 47 57 +16 16 17 4 5 9 +3 2
1998–99 Dallas Stars NHL 81 10 41 51 +9 20 23 1 12 13 +13 4
1999–00 Dallas Stars NHL 77 9 33 42 -2 −2 18 18 2 7 9 +1 6
2000–01 Dallas Stars NHL 79 10 41 51 +22 24 10 1 5 6 +2 4
2001–02 Dallas Stars NHL 80 12 32 44 -4 −4 22 — — — — — —
2002–03 Dallas Stars NHL 82 11 44 55 +21 26 12 4 10 14 +2 4
2003–04 Dallas Stars NHL 77 7 35 42 0 20 5 1 1 2 -5 −5 0
2005–06 Dallas Stars NHL 78 13 58 71 +20 46 5 1 5 6 -1 −1 6
2006–07 Dallas Stars NHL 78 12 42 54 0 26 6 0 4 4 +3 2
2007–08 Dallas Stars NHL 46 4 31 35 +6 12 11 1 5 6 -4 −4 4
2008–09 Dallas Stars NHL 10 0 4 4 -4 −4 0 — — — — — —
2009–10 SKA St. Petersburg KHL 53 10 32 42 — 32 4 0 2 2 — 0
USSR/RSL totals 155 17 19 36 — 44 — — — — — —
NHL totals 1068 152 619 771 +148 337 164 24 93 117 +28 62

International statistics

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1989 Soviet Union WJC 1 7 0 5 5 4
1990 Soviet Union WJC 2 7 1 3 4 14
1992 Unified Team Oly 1 8 0 1 1 0
1992 CIS WC 5th 6 2 2 4 10
1996 Russia WCH SF 3 1 1 2 0
2010 Russia Oly QF 0 - - - -
Junior int'l totals 14 1 8 9 18
Senior int'l totals 17 3 4 7 10

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalinsky, George (2004). Garden of Dreams. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. ISBN 1-58479-343-0. 
  2. ↑ "Sergei Zubov". New York Rangers Legends. 2009. 
  3. ↑ http://www.russianhockeyfans.com/team-russia/kovalev-frolov-zubov-and-kulemin-added-to-olympics-squad-116.html
  4. ↑ http://www.defendingbigd.com/2011/4/18/2119444/report-former-dallas-star-sergei-zubov-retires
  5. ↑ http://news.sport-express.ru/2011-04-17/432830/

External links

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