Sergei Kostitsyn

Siarhiej Alehavič Kaścicyn (Belarusian: Сяргей Алегавiч Касціцын; born 20 March 1987), better known as Sergei Kostitsyn (Russian: Сергей Олегович Костицын), is a Belarusian professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for Bratislava Capitals of the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League. He most recently played for Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played with the Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL) alongside his older brother Andrei.

Sergei Kostitsyn
Born (1987-03-20) 20 March 1987
Novopolotsk, Byelorussian SSR, URS
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
IceHL team
Former teams
Bratislava Capitals
Yunost Minsk
Gomel
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
Avangard Omsk
Ak Bars Kazan
Dinamo Minsk
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
National team  Belarus
NHL Draft 200th overall, 2005
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 2007present

Playing career

Junior hockey

Like his older brother, Sergei excelled in the Belarusian junior hockey program. Sergei played for HK Gomel in Belarus in 2004–05 (14 points in 40 games) and was drafted in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s London Knights. Sergei was also drafted in the seventh round, 200th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, the team that also had drafted Andrei in the first round (10th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the Nashville Predators on 29 June 2010.

Kostitsyn moved to North America in 2005–06 to play with the Knights and recorded 26 goals, 52 assists and 78 points, leading all OHL rookies in scoring during the 2005–06 season. The 19-year-old was the second runner-up for the Emms Family Award, as OHL Rookie of the Year, behind Logan Couture of the Ottawa 67's and 15-year-old winner John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals. Sergei was instrumental in the London Knights' 2006 playoff run, which saw them lose to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL final. In his first ever OHL playoff game against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Sergei had six points, a goal and five assists, in a 6–1 London win.[1] In the semi-finals, Kostitsyn scored the series-clinching goal against the Guelph Storm, a power play goal in the first overtime of game five.[2] In addition to being named team rookie of the year, the Knights named him the playoff performer of the year, finishing the post-season with 37 points in 19 games.[3]

Joining the Canadiens' 2006–07 training camp, Kostitsyn was returned to London for a second OHL season. He was placed on a line with young superstars Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner and was named an alternate captain. Kostitsyn finished third in OHL and CHL scoring behind teammate Patrick Kane and Oshawa's John Tavares, tallying 40 goals and 131 points in only 59 games. His 91 assists led the CHL[4] and broke the London Knights franchise record of 89 set in 1972–73 by Dennis Ververgaert.

Montreal Canadiens

On 2 May 2007, Sergei Kostitsyn signed an amateur tryout contract with the Canadiens' AHL team, the Hamilton Bulldogs. However, after not being inserted in the lineup, he returned home to see his family. On 25 May, Kostitsyn signed with the Canadiens to a 3-year, entry-level contract.[4]

Kostitsyn began the 2007–08 season with the Bulldogs. On 13 December 2007, while leading the Bulldogs in scoring, Kostitsyn was called up by the Canadiens. He played his first career NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers on 13 December and played on the top-line with captain Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins.[5] Sergei recorded his first career NHL point, an assist, in the next game, a 4–1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on 15 December.[6] Five days later, in his fourth game on 20 December, Sergei scored his first career NHL goal, a power play marker in a 5–2 win against the Washington Capitals.[7] He finished his rookie season with 27 points in 51 games and added eight points in 12 playoff games.

The following season, Kostitsyn was reassigned to Hamilton on 19 February 2009. He was called back up a little over a month later on 22 March.[8] Prior to the 2009–10 season, Kostitsyn was cut from the lineup and assigned to Hamilton. On 30 September, he announced that he would not report to Hamilton and even asked to be traded. He was then suspended by the team.[9][10] A few days later, Kostitsyn agreed to report to the Bulldogs in time for the start of the 2009–10 season.[11][12] After four points in the first five games of the season, however, he left the team on 21 October and was consequently suspended a second time by the Canadiens. He finally decided to report once again to the Hamilton Bulldogs and after recording 13 points in 16 games with the Bulldogs, he was recalled by the Canadiens.[13][14] On 7 May, Sergei was effectively cut from the Canadiens when Jacques Martin told the player to stay off the ice for the morning practice.[15]

Nashville Predators

On 29 June 2010, Kostitsyn was sent to the Nashville Predators for goaltender Dan Ellis and forward Dustin Boyd in a trade involving future considerations.[16] On 6 July, Kostitsyn signed a one-year deal with the Predators worth $550,000 that ran through the 2010–11 season. In the 2011–12 season, his second with the Predators, Kostitsyn scored his first career hat-trick on 1 January 2012.

On 4 July 2013, Kostitsyn was placed on waivers for the condition of a mutual termination of his contract with the Predators. On 6 July 2013, he signed a three-year contract to return to Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), his club during the 2012 NHL lockout.[17]

KHL

In June 2014, Avangard Omsk traded Kostitsyn to Ak Bars Kazan in exchange for Konstantin Barulin.[18]

In the 2015–16 season, he played for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod before joining Dinamo Minsk for the 2016–17 season and then returned to Torpedo for the 2017–18 season.[19]

On 3 May 2018, Kostitsyn signed a two-year contract as a free agent to return to his native Belarus, for a second stint with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL.[20]

International play

As a junior, Kostitsyn has participated in four World Under-17 tournaments, three World Junior Under-18 Championships, and two World Junior Championships, one of which was with his brother Andrei.

In the 2006 World Junior Championships, he was named best forward in Division I B, leading Belarus to a promotion to the top-tier.[21] Playing in pool A in 2007, he scored a goal and two assists in the first game of the tournament, a 4–2 upset victory against Finland. He finished the tournament with 5 points in 6 games.

After his rookie season with the Canadiens, Kostitsyn competed in the 2008 IIHF World Championship with Belarus. He played in four games, recording one assist.

On 23 December 2009, Kostitsyn was selected along with his older brother Andrei, Mikhail Grabovski and Ruslan Salei as the only four current NHL players to represent Belarus in the 2010 Winter Olympics.[22] [23]

Awards

Records

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Yunost Minsk BXL 10000
2002–03 HK Gomel BXL 81344 10000
2002–03 HK Gomel EEHL 20000
2002–03 HK Gomel II BVL 2522274966
2003–04 Yunior Minsk BXL 30000
2003–04 HK Gomel BXL 225494 111238
2003–04 HK Gomel EEHL 60110
2003–04 HK Gomel II BVL 1713162966
2003–04 HK Gomel II EEHL B 672914
2004–05 HK Gomel BXL 404101424 420212
2004–05 HK Gomel II BVL 623534
2005–06 London Knights OHL 6326527878 1913243744
2006–07 London Knights OHL 59409113176 169122139
2007–08 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 226162218
2007–08 Montreal Canadiens NHL 529182751 1235814
2008–09 Montreal Canadiens NHL 568152364 10002
2008–09 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 16581318
2009–10 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 1649132
2009–10 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47711188 50000
2010–11 Nashville Predators NHL 7723275020 120552
2011–12 Nashville Predators NHL 7517264334 101124
2012–13 Avangard Omsk KHL 279192842
2012–13 Nashville Predators NHL 463121511
2013–14 Avangard Omsk KHL 5410243456
2014–15 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 497202720 121236
2015–16 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 5110102040 1122416
2016–17 Dinamo Minsk KHL 455212642 50224
2017–18 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 43771414 41010
2018–19 Dinamo Minsk KHL 605131868
NHL totals 35367109176188 404111522
KHL totals 32953114167282 32461026

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2003 Belarus WJC18 6 2 0 2 4
2004 Belarus WJC18 6 1 3 4 8
2004 Belarus WJC D1 5 4 4 8 0
2005 Belarus WJC18 D1 4 1 5 6 4
2005 Belarus WJC 6 0 0 0 2
2006 Belarus WJC D1 5 4 5 9 43
2007 Belarus WJC 6 1 4 5 33
2008 Belarus WC 4 0 1 1 0
2010 Belarus OG 4 2 3 5 0
2012 Belarus WC 3 1 1 2 2
2014 Belarus WC 8 4 4 8 10
2015 Belarus WC 8 1 6 7 8
2016 Belarus WC 7 0 2 2 4
2017 Belarus OGQ 3 2 4 6 0
2017 Belarus WC 6 0 2 2 6
Junior totals 24 4 7 11 47
Senior totals 40 8 19 27 30

References

  1. "Knights draw first blood". 24 March 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  2. "Knights back in OHL Final". 29 April 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  3. "Knights acquire Bulls picks for Peleech". 15 June 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  4. "Canadiens sign CHL's top assist man". CBC. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  5. "Habs look to end long skid vs. Leafs". Sporting News. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  6. "Koivu scores twice in Canadiens' 4–1 win over Maple Leafs". USA Today. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  7. "Latendresse scores 2 goals to lead Montreal over Washington 5-2". International Herald Tribune. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  8. "Canadiens summon Sergei Kostitsyn from minors". CBC. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  9. "Sergei Kostitsyn Suspended by Habs; Requests Trade". TSN. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  10. "Kostitsyn demands trade after demotion: report". CBC.ca. CBC News. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. Harrison, Doug (22 October 2009). "Kostitsyn returning to AHL, not Russia". cbc.ca. CBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  13. http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/284647.html
  14. "Sergei Kostitsyn suspended by Habs after leaving Bulldogs". The Sports Network. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. Harrison, Doug (30 June 2010). "Canadiens ship Sergei Kostitsyn to Predators". CBC. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  17. "Kostitsyn returns to Avangard" (in Russian). Avangard Omsk. 6 July 2013. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  18. "Сергей Костицын в "Ак Барсе". Как это было". www.ak-bars.ru (in Russian). 4 June 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  19. "Сергей Костицын вернулся в "Торпедо"". www.hctorpedo.ru (in Russian). 1 May 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  20. "Сергей Костицын – в ХК "Динамо-Минск"". hcdinamo.by (in Russian). 3 May 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  21. "Championnat du monde des moins de 20 ans 2005/06". Passionhockey.com. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  22. "Belarus names Olympic roster". IIHF.com. 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 26 December 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  23. Kreiser, John (2 January 2010). "Sharks lead NHL with 8 players chosen for Olympics". NHL.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
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