Justin Azevedo

Justin Azevedo
Born April 1, 1988
West Lorne, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
KHL team
Former teams
Ak Bars Kazan
Manchester Monarchs
Lukko Rauma
HC Lev Praha
NHL Draft 153rd overall, 2008
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 2008present

Justin Azevedo (born April 1, 1988) is a Canadian ice hockey player of Portuguese descent who plays for Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League continue to retain his rights.

Playing career

Junior

Azevedo played his first OHL game on September 24, 2004. During the 2007–08 OHL season, Azevedo won the Red Tilson Trophy for the most outstanding player in the OHL, Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy for being the top scorer in the OHL, Ed Chynoweth Trophy for being the top scorer of the Memorial Cup, CHL Player of the Year, CHL Top Scorer Award, and Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for being the most outstanding player in the OHL playoffs.

Professional

Justin was drafted 153rd overall, in the 6th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. As an older draft pick, Azevedo immediately turned professional and was signed by the Kings AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs on August 10, 2008.[1] After attending the Kings training camp on September 29, 2008, he was assigned to the Monarchs for the 2008–09 season.

Despite missing significant parts of the season with the Monarchs suffering two injuries, Azevedo scored 36 points in 49 games to earn a two-year entry level contract with the Kings on July 20, 2009.[2]

Azevedo was one of two players, alongside left wing Brandon Kozun, to be allowed a penalty shot in the same game during Manchester's 5-2 victory over the Providence Bruins, a franchise record for the Manchester Monarchs.

On June 7, 2012, he signed with Lukko Rauma, in the Finnish SM-liiga.[3] In the his first European season in 2012–13, Azevedo made a comfortable transition with Lukko, leading the SM-Liiga amongst rookies with 38 assists and 58 points. Azevedo lead the entire league in playoffs scoring with 10 goals and 18 points in only 14 games to also earn a selection in the SM-liiga All-Star Team.

On April 15, 2013, Azevedo opted to play in the Kontinental Hockey League, signing a multi-year contract with Czech based club, HC Lev Praha for the 2013–14 season.[4] Azevedo contributed with 9 goals and 27 assists in 48 games for Lev before stepping up in the playoffs for a second consecutive season, to post 13 goals and 20 points in 22 games.

Despite reaching the Gagarin Cup finals, Lev announced they would not continue participation due to bankruptcy. On July 1, 2014, Azevedo was transferred to fellow KHL club, Ak Bars Kazan, in exchange for financial compensation.[5]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Kitchener Rangers OHL 58 18 21 39 39 15 3 1 4 14
2005–06 Kitchener Rangers OHL 60 29 40 69 80 5 0 3 3 12
2006–07 Kitchener Rangers OHL 50 17 39 56 42 9 4 11 15 22
2007–08 Kitchener Rangers OHL 67 43 81 124 69 20 10 26 36 33
2008–09 Manchester Monarchs AHL 49 12 24 36 31
2009–10 Manchester Monarchs AHL 46 14 13 27 31 16 3 6 9 12
2010–11 Manchester Monarchs AHL 79 18 35 53 71 7 3 7 10 10
2011–12 Manchester Monarchs AHL 63 28 22 50 37 4 1 1 2 4
2012–13 Lukko SM-l 58 20 38 58 88 14 10 8 18 6
2013–14 HC Lev Praha KHL 48 9 18 27 34 22 13 7 20 6
AHL totals 237 72 94 166 170 27 7 14 21 26

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Canada Ontario WHC17 4th 6 2 4 6 8
2006 Canada WJC18 4th 7 4 4 8 20
Junior totals 13 6 8 14 28

Awards and honours

Award Year Ref
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2008 [6]

References

  1. "Monarchs signs two; assign one". Los Angeles Kings. 2008-08-10. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
  2. "Kings sign Azevedo". Los Angeles Kings. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  3. "Lukko nappasi Justin Azevedon" (in Finnish). Lukko Rauma. June 6, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  4. "Lev amour up for second season" (in Czech). HC Lev Praha. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  5. "Kazan buy Azevedo, rights to Sekac". HC Lev Praha. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
  6. Memorial Cup All-Star Teams

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
John Tavares
CHL Player of the Year
2008
Succeeded by
Cody Hodgson