Sergei Zubov

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 fall of the USSR. 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 defenceman. 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.

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. 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 he is currently the only active defenceman in the NHL to have 11 consecutive years of 40+ point seasons or 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 powerfully hitting opponents. 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, a son named Paul and a daughter named Anastasia. Their children are currently going to the same American school in St. Petersburg, Russia. 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.

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

Awards

 * Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
 * 2006 Norris Trophy finalist
 * Stanley Cup winner in 1994 and 1999
 * Named to Second NHL All-Star Team in 2006

Legacy

 * Fastest Defenceman in NHL history to reach 200 career points (207 GP).
 * 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 defensmen.