Kārlis Skrastiņš

Kārlis Skrastiņš
Born (1974-07-09)July 9, 1974
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Died September 7, 2011(2011-09-07) (aged 37)
Yaroslavl, Russia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Nashville Predators
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers
Dallas Stars
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft 230th overall, 1998
Nashville Predators
Playing career 1991–2011

Kārlis Skrastiņš (July 9, 1974 – September 7, 2011) was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Skrastiņš was drafted by the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League in 1998 as a defenceman and spent twelve years in the league playing for the Predators, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the Dallas Stars.

For the 2011-2012 season, Skrastiņš left the NHL and signed a contract to play in Russia for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). However, he never got to play a game for Lokomotiv as he was killed when a plane carrying the entire team crashed on September 7, 2011.[1]

Playing career

Skrastiņš was drafted by Nashville Predators with the 230th pick in the ninth round of 1998 NHL Entry Draft.[2] On October 15, 2002, against the New York Islanders, he scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal. He played for Nashville for five seasons until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2003.[3] On February 8, 2007, he played in his 487th consecutive game to pass Tim Horton for the longest playing streak in NHL history for a defenceman.[4] Skrastiņš' streak ended at 495 games, when he missed a February 25, 2007 game against the Anaheim Ducks with a knee injury.[5] He had previously missed only one other game due to injury in his career — against St. Louis on February 18, 2000, with a minor shoulder injury. The streak led to him being given the nickname "Ironman".[6]

In his fourth season with the Avalanche in 2007–08, he was traded to the Florida Panthers for Ruslan Salei on February 26, 2008.[7] In his first full season with the Panthers in 2008–09, Skrastiņš scored a career high 18 points in 80 games. On October 16, 2008, he played his 600th career NHL game against the Minnesota Wild[8] and on November 1, 2008, he scored his 100th point in his NHL career in a 3–2 loss fittingly against his original club, the Nashville Predators.[9]

On July 2, 2009, he was signed by the Dallas Stars to a two-year contract worth $2.75 million.[10] He scored his only two goals of the 2009–10 season, including the game winner, on December 19 in a 4–3 Stars victory over the Detroit Red Wings.[11]

On May 17, 2011, after eleven seasons in the NHL, Skrastiņš left to sign a contract with Russian team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.[12]

Death

On September 7, 2011, he was killed, when a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly his entire Lokomotiv team, crashed just outside Yaroslavl, Russia.[13] The team was traveling to Minsk to play their opening game of the season, with its coaching staff and prospects. Lokomotiv officials said "'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.'"[14][15][16][17]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Pārdaugava Rīga LHL 16 7 6 13 10  —  —  —  —  —
1992–93 Pardaugava Riga LHL 10 7 2 9 12  —  —  —  —  —
1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga RSL 40 3 5 8 16 2 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Pardaugava Riga RSL 42 7 5 12 18 2 1 0 1 4
1994–95 Pārdaugava Rīga RSL 52 4 14 18 69  —  —  —  —  —
1995–96 TPS SM-l 50 4 11 15 32 11 2 2 4 10
1996–97 TPS SM-l 50 2 8 10 20 12 0 4 4 2
1997–98 TPS SM-l 48 4 15 19 67 4 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Nashville Predators NHL 2 0 1 1 0  —  —  —  —  —
1998–99 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 75 8 36 44 47 2 0 1 1 2
1999–00 Nashville Predators NHL 59 5 6 11 20  —  —  —  —  —
1999–00 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19 3 8 11 10  —  —  —  —  —
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 82 1 11 12 30  —  —  —  —  —
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 82 4 13 17 36  —  —  —  —  —
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 82 3 10 13 44  —  —  —  —  —
2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 5 8 13 26 11 0 2 2 2
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 34 8 17 25 30 3 0 0 0 25
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LHL 4 0 4 4 0 9 3 10 13 33
2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 3 11 14 65 9 0 1 1 10
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 68 0 11 11 30  —  —  —  —  —
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 43 1 3 4 20  —  —  —  —  —
2007–08 Florida Panthers NHL 17 1 0 1 12  —  —  —  —  —
2008–09 Florida Panthers NHL 80 4 14 18 30  —  —  —  —  —
2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 79 2 11 13 24  —  —  —  —  —
2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 74 3 5 8 38  —  —  —  —  —
NHL totals 832 32 104 136 375 20 0 3 3 12

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1993 Latvia WC-C 21st 7 1 6 7 0
1993 Latvia OQ NQ 4 1 1 2 2
1994 Latvia WJC-C 18th 4 1 5 6 33
1994 Latvia WC-B 14th 7 3 5 8 0
1995 Latvia WC-B 14th 7 1 1 2 4
1997 Latvia WC 7th 8 0 3 3 4
1999 Latvia WC 11th 6 1 1 2 6
2000 Latvia WC 8th 7 1 2 3 4
2001 Latvia WC 13th 6 3 0 3 0
2002 Latvia OG 9th 1 0 0 0 0
2003 Latvia WC 9th 6 3 3 6 27
2005 Latvia OQ Q 3 1 0 1 0
2005 Latvia WC 9th 6 2 0 2 2
2006 Latvia OG 12th 5 0 1 1 0
2009 Latvia WC 7th 7 1 1 2 0
2010 Latvia OG 12th 4 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 4 1 5 6 33
Senior totals 84 18 24 42 49

See also

References

  1. ↑ Life News (in Russian) (Lifenews.ru) http://www.lifenews.ru/news/68936. Retrieved September 7, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ "Karlis Skrastins #37 – D". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  3. ↑ "Karlis Skrastins". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  4. ↑ "Avalanche blue-liner Karlis Skrastins sets ironman mark". CBC.ca. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  5. ↑ Associated Press (2007-02-26). "Skrastins' consecutive game streak ends at 495". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  6. ↑ "Karlis Skrastins, Ice Hockey". Vancouver 2010.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  7. ↑ "Avalanche acquire Ruslan Salei". CBC. 2008-02-26. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  8. ↑ "Wild Thrash Panthers with 6 goals". NHL. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  9. ↑ "Predators outlast Panthers". CBS Sports. 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  10. ↑ Associated Press (2009-07-02). Skrastins. Signs.2.1069915.html "Dallas Stars Sign Skrastins To 2-Year Deal" Check |url= value (help). CBS 11 TV.com. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  11. ↑ Associated Press (2009-12-19). "Stars snap Red Wings' four-game winning streak". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  12. ↑ "NHL defender in Yaroslavl". Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  13. ↑ "MInistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia confirms that Skrastins has died". Tvnet (in Latvian). Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  14. ↑ "First pictures from the crash of Yak-42 near Yaroslavl". Lifenews.ru. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  15. ↑ "The list of Lokomotiv players who died". Lifenews.ru. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  16. ↑ "Pavol Demitra among 43 killed in Russian plane crash". Toronto: theglobeandmail.com. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  17. ↑ Lynn Berry (7 September 2011). "Russian jet crash kills 43, many top hockey stars". Forbes (Forbes). Retrieved 2011-09-07.

External links

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