Vitaly Vishnevskiy

Vitaly Vishnevskiy
Born (1980-03-18) March 18, 1980
Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, URS
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL)
New Jersey Devils (NHL)
Nashville Predators (NHL)
Atlanta Thrashers (NHL)
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (NHL)
Khimik Moscow Oblast (RSL)
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)
National team  Russia
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1998
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Playing career 19982015

Vitaliy Viktorovych Vyshnevsky (Ukrainian: Віталій Вікторович Вишневський; born March 18, 1980) is a Ukrainian-Russian[1] former professional ice hockey defenceman, last playing with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL.

Playing career

Vishnevsky began his career in Ukraine with his local hockey organization, Dynamo Kharkiv.[2]

After playing in the Russian Super League for Torpedo Yaroslavl, Vishnevsky was drafted 5th overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He came to North America to start the 1999–2000 season playing for the Ducks affiliate the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League. He also made his NHL debut playing in 31 games for the Ducks.

Vishnesvky established himself as a mainstay on the Duck defense, known for his punishing checks. In the 2002–03 season he helped the Ducks reach the Stanley Cup finals. Playing in all their playoff games in their eventual defeat to the New Jersey Devils. Vitaly scored a career high 16 points (6 goals and 10 assists) in the 2003–04 NHL season. Vishnevsky returned to Russia to play for Khimik Voskresensk during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

In the 2005–06 NHL season, Vishnevsky continued to play for the Ducks where they made their way to the conference finals before losing to the Edmonton Oilers. On August 17, 2006 Vishnevsky was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Karl Stewart and a 2nd round pick prior to the 2006–07 NHL season.[3]

Vitaly played in 52 games with the Thrashers before he was traded to the Nashville Predators for Éric Bélanger on February 10, 2007.[4] Vishnevsky left the Predators at season's end and was signed as a free agent by the New Jersey Devils to a three-year contract on July 10, 2007.[5] After one season of play, with the Devils, he was waived on August 22, 2008.

KHL

After Vishnevsky cleared waivers, he decided to go play in the newly formed KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on August 26, 2008. In his first season with Lokomotiv, the team made a run towards the Gagarin Cup but ultimately fell to Ak Bars Kazan in seven games. The following season, the team lost in the Conference Finals in seven games to HC MVD. After his contract expired, he signed with SKA Saint Petersburg. He then returned to Lokomotiv for another 2 years

Return to NHL

After his contract expired once again, Vishnevskiy signed a professional tryout contract with the Anaheim Ducks, the team that had drafted him in 1998. He will compete for a spot on the opening night roster. Vishnevski was then released from his professional tryout after not appearing in a preseason game, thus making him a free agent

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Torpedo Yaroslavl RSL 34 3 4 7 38 10 0 0 0 4
1999–00 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 35 1 3 4 45
1999–00 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 31 1 1 2 26
2000–01 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 76 1 10 11 99
2001–02 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 74 0 3 3 60
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 80 2 6 8 76 21 0 1 1 6
2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 73 6 10 16 51
2004–05 Khimik Moscow Oblast RSL 50 7 14 21 92
2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 82 1 7 8 91 16 0 4 4 10
2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 52 3 9 12 31
2006–07 Nashville Predators NHL 15 0 1 1 10
2007–08 New Jersey Devils NHL 69 2 5 7 50 3 0 0 0 2
2008–09 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 53 8 13 21 124 19 2 7 9 44
2009–10 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 55 5 14 19 68 17 0 9 9 32
2010–11 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 49 7 8 15 44 11 0 1 1 4
2011–12 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 54 3 4 7 89 14 0 1 1 9
2012–13 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 52 2 5 7 36 6 0 0 0 2
2013–14 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 52 1 4 5 22 18 1 0 1 2
2014–15 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 43 0 3 3 16 1 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 552 16 52 68 494 40 0 5 5 18
KHL totals 358 26 51 77 396 86 3 18 21 93

International play

Vitaly Vishnevskiy
Medal record
Representing  Russia
Ice hockey
World Championships
2009 Switzerland
World Junior Championships
1999 Winnipeg
1998 Helsinki

Played for Russia in:

International statistics

Year Team Event Place   GP G A Pts PIM
1998 Russia WJC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 7 1 2 3 6
1999 Russia WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 0 2 2 6
1999 Russia WC 5th 6 0 1 1 8
2001 Russia WC 5th 7 0 3 3 6
2004 Russia WCH QF 3 0 0 0 0
2006 Russia Oly 4th 8 0 1 1 4
2009 Russia WC 1st, gold medalist(s) 9 0 0 0 29
Junior int'l totals 14 1 4 5 12
Senior int'l totals 33 0 5 5 47

References

  1. The Ukrainian Weekly
  2. http://hclokomotiv.ru/stats/player/?personId=14
  3. "Ducks acquire Stewart, Picks from Thrashers for Vishnevski". ducks.nhl.com. 2006-08-17. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  4. "Preds acquire defenseman Vishnevski". predators.nhl.com. 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  5. "Devils ink Vitaly Vishnevski to 3-year contract". devils.nhl.com. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
Preceded by
Michael Holmqvist
Anaheim Mighty Ducks first round draft pick
1998
Succeeded by
Alexei Smirnov
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