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Alexei Zhitnik
Alexeizhitnik
Position Defence
Shoots Left
Height
Weight
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
214 lb (97 kg)
KHL Team
F. Teams
Dynamo Moscow
Atlanta Thrashers
Los Angeles Kings
Buffalo Sabres
New York Islanders
Philadelphia Flyers
Nationality Flag of Ukraine Ukranian & Flag of Russia Russian
Born (1972-10-10)October 10, 1972,
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
NHL Draft 81st overall, 1991
Los Angeles Kings
Pro Career 1991 – present

Alexei Nikolayevich Zhitnik (born October 10, 1972) is a Ukrainian ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Zhitnik has played more games in the National Hockey League (NHL) than any other Soviet-born defenceman. He has represented the Soviet Union, CIS, and Russia internationally.

Playing career[]

Zhitnik was drafted 81st overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft after playing for Sokil Kyiv in the Russian Super League for two years. After another year, he came to the NHL for the 1992–93 NHL season.

He made his NHL debut on October 6, 1992 against the Calgary Flames and scored his first goal nine nights later, also against Calgary. In his rookie season with the Kings, he finished second among rookie defenceman in points with 48. He was an important part of the Kings' playoff run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens.

After another year of playing with the Kings and Wayne Gretzky, he was traded on February 14, 1995, along with Robb Stauber, Charlie Huddy and a fifth-round draft pick, to the Buffalo Sabres for Grant Fuhr, Denis Tsygurov and Philippe Boucher. He became one of the team's best players, helping the Sabres win the Northeast Division in the 1996–97 NHL season, his second full year with the team. In the 1997–98 NHL season, he led all defensemen in shorthanded goals (3). He also helped the Sabres reach the finals in the 1998–99 NHL season and stayed on the team until the 2004–05 NHL lockout when he returned to the Russian Super League.

Following the lockout, he signed a four-year contract with the New York Islanders. He became an effective force on the team, and even though he missed the last 18 games of the season with a fractured ankle, he finished second among team defenceman in scoring.

On December 16, 2006, in move to clear some room under the new salary cap, Zhitnik was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Freddy Meyer and a conditional third round draft pick. However, he was traded two months later on February 24, 2007 to the Atlanta Thrashers to add experience for playoffs, in exchange for Braydon Coburn.

Due to Zhitnik's disappointing play with the Thrashers combined with the team's focus on rebuilding, the team bought out Zhitnik's contract on June 30, 2008, making him a free agent.

On July 26, 2008, Zhitnik signed a tryout contract with Dynamo Moscow.

Awards[]

Records[]

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1989–90 Sokil Kyiv USSR 32 3 4 7 16
1990–91 Sokil Kyiv USSR 46 1 4 5 46
1991–92 CSKA Moscow CIS 36 2 7 9 48
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 78 12 36 48 80 24 3 9 12 26
1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 12 40 52 101
1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 2 5 7 27
1994–95 Buffalo Sabres NHL 21 2 5 7 34 5 0 1 1 14
1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 6 30 36 58
1996–97 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 7 28 35 95 12 1 0 1 16
1997–98 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 15 30 45 102 15 0 3 3 36
1998–99 Buffalo Sabres NHL 81 7 26 33 96 21 4 11 15 22
1999–00 Buffalo Sabres NHL 74 2 11 13 95 4 0 0 0 8
2000–01 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 8 29 37 75 13 1 6 7 12
2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 82 1 33 34 80
2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 70 3 18 21 85
2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 68 4 24 28 102
2004–05 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 23 1 8 9 30 4 0 0 0 2
2005–06 New York Islanders NHL 59 5 24 29 88
2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 30 2 9 11 40
2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 31 3 10 13 38
2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 18 2 12 14 14 4 0 0 0 4
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 65 3 5 8 58
2008–09 Moscow Dynamo KHL 56 4 7 11 58 12 1 2 3 22
NHL totals 1,085 96 375 471 1,268 98 9 30 39 168

International play[]

Played for the USSR in:

Played for the Unified Team team in:

Played for Russia in:

International statistics[]

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1990 USSR EJC 6 2 2 4 2
1991 USSR WJC 7 1 1 2 2
1991 USSR CC 5 0 0 0 4
1992 Russa WJC 7 1 1 2 2
1992 CIS Olym 8 1 0 1 0
1992 Russia WC 6 0 2 2 6
1994 Russia WC 6 1 0 1 8
1996 Russia WC 8 1 1 2 6
1996 Russia WCH 3 0 1 1 2
1998 Russia Olym 6 0 2 2 2
2000 Russia WC 6 0 1 1 2

Career transactions[]

References[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Alexei Zhitnik. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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