Darius Kasparaitis
Date of birth | October 16, 1972 |
place of birth | Elektrėnai , Lithuanian SSR |
size | 180 cm |
Weight | 98 kg |
position | defender |
Shot hand | Left |
Draft | |
NHL Entry Draft |
1992 , 1st round, 5th position New York Islanders |
Career stations | |
1986-1992 | HK Dynamo Moscow |
1992-1996 | New York Islanders |
1996-2002 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
2002 | Colorado Avalanche |
2002-2007 | New York Rangers |
2004-2005 | Ak Bars Kazan |
2007-2009 | SKA Saint Petersburg |
since 2014 | Vilnius Hockey Punks |
Darius Kasparaitis ( Russian Дарюс Владович Каспарайтис / Darjus Wladowitsch Kasparaitis; born October 16, 1972 in Elektrėnai , Lithuanian SSR ) is a Lithuanian ice hockey player and coach, who also has Russian and US citizenship . During his playing career, he played over 850 games for the New York Islanders , Pittsburgh Penguins , Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League between 1992 and 2007 .
At the age of 41, around five years after his official retirement, he joined the Lithuanian first division club Vilnius Hockey Punks as a player .
Career
Darius Kasparaitis began his career as a hockey player in the youth department of HK Dynamo Moscow , for whose professional team he made his debut in the Vysschaya League , the highest Soviet division, in the 1988/89 season . With the team he was Soviet champions in the 1990/91 season and CIS champions in the 1991/92 season . He was then selected in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft in the first round as the fifth player by the New York Islanders . First, the defender began the 1992/93 season again at Dynamo Moscow in the newly founded International Hockey League . In this he scored one goal and three assists in seven games, whereupon the New York Islanders ordered him to North America. By the end of the season he scored in his rookie year in the National Hockey League in 97 games four goals and 22 templates, reaching with his team the conference finals, in which he and his team later Stanley Cup winner Montreal Canadiens defeated . In the following years he was also one of the regulars with the Islanders.
After he had started the 1996/97 season with the New York Islanders, he was given to the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 17, 1996 together with Andreas Johansson in exchange for Bryan Smolinski . With these he also reached the conference finals in the 2000/01 season . Shortly before the end of the trade deadline , he was transferred to reigning Stanley Cup winner Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Ville Nieminen and Rick Berry in March 2002 . With the "Avs" he also did not get beyond the conference finals in the 2001/02 season . In total, he gave three assists in 32 games for Colorado. He subsequently received a contract as a free agent with the New York Rangers , where for two years he was one of the lead players before it during the lockout , the season 2004/05 at Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League spent. After resumption of play in the NHL, he returned to the New York Rangers, where he was only sporadically used in the NHL in the 2006/07 season and instead twelve times for their farm team Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League played. With these he started the 2007/08 season , but moved to the Russian Super League after only four games for SKA Saint Petersburg . In Saint Petersburg he ended his career following the 2008/09 season in the newly founded Continental Hockey League at the age of 37.
After his career as an active player, Kasparaitis was assistant coach for his ex-club SKA Saint Petersburg from the KHL for the 2010/11 season . He held this position until his release on December 22, 2010. Around five years after his official retirement, the now 41-year-old Kasparaitis joined the Lithuanian first division club Vilnius Hockey Punks as a player in early February 2014 .
International
For the Soviet Union , Kasparaitis took part in the junior division at the U18 European Junior Championship in 1990 and the U20 World Junior Championship in 1991 . At the U18 European Championship in 1990 he won the silver medal with his team and was himself elected to the all-star team of the tournament. In 1991 he also won the silver medal at the U20 World Cup with the Soviet Union. With the United Team he was Olympic champion at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville . After the Olympic victory, he was named the Honored Master of Sports of Russia . For Russia , he participated in the Under-20 World Youth Championship in 1992 , when he was awarded his team world champion and as the best defender of the tournament and the world championships in 1992 and 1996 and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in part. He was also in Russia's squad for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2006 in Turin . At the 1998 Winter Games he won the silver medal with the Russians and the bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Games.
At the 2018 World Cup , he played in Group B of Division I for the first time for Lithuania internationally. It was his first World Cup participation in 22 years.
Achievements and Awards
- 1991 Soviet champion with HK Dynamo Moscow
- 1992 CIS master with HK Dynamo Moscow
- 1992 Honored Master of Sports of the USSR
- 2009 KHL All-Star Game
International
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Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1988/89 | HK Dynamo Moscow | Vysschaya League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1989/90 | HK Dynamo Moscow | Vysschaya League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1990/91 | HK Dynamo Moscow | Vysschaya League | 17th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1990/91 | HK Dynamo Moscow II | Wtoraja League | 16 | 3 | 7th | 10 | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1991/92 | HK Dynamo Moscow | Vysschaya League | 24 | 1 | 7th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 6th | ||
1991/92 | HK Dynamo Moscow II | Wtoraja League | 8th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1992/93 | HK Dynamo Moscow | MHL | 7th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1992/93 | New York Islanders | NHL | 79 | 4th | 17th | 21st | 166 | 18th | 0 | 5 | 5 | 31 | ||
1993/94 | New York Islanders | NHL | 76 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 142 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8th | ||
1994/95 | New York Islanders | NHL | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22nd | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1995/96 | New York Islanders | NHL | 46 | 1 | 7th | 8th | 93 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1996/97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 18th | 0 | 5 | 5 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1996/97 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 57 | 2 | 16 | 18th | 84 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6th | ||
1997/98 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 81 | 4th | 8th | 12 | 127 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8th | ||
1998/99 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 48 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 70 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1999/00 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 73 | 3 | 12 | 15th | 146 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
2000/01 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 77 | 3 | 16 | 19th | 111 | 17th | 1 | 1 | 2 | 26th | ||
2001/02 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 69 | 2 | 12 | 14th | 123 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2001/02 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19th | 21st | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18th | ||
2002/03 | New York Rangers | NHL | 80 | 3 | 11 | 14th | 85 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2003/04 | New York Rangers | NHL | 44 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 48 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2004/05 | Ak Bars Kazan | Super league | 28 | 1 | 3 | 4th | 118 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6th | ||
2005/06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 67 | 0 | 6th | 6th | 97 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
2006/07 | New York Rangers | NHL | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4th | 30th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2006/07 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2007/08 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 4th | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2007/08 | SKA Saint Petersburg | Super league | 33 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 83 | 8th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4th | ||
2008/09 | SKA Saint Petersburg | KHL | 26th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2009/10 | without a contract | not played after retirement | ||||||||||||
2010/11 | without a contract | not played after retirement | ||||||||||||
2011/12 | without a contract | not played after retirement | ||||||||||||
2012/13 | without a contract | not played after retirement | ||||||||||||
2013/14 | Vilnius Hockey Punks | NLRL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2014/15 | Vilnius Hockey Punks | NLRL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2015/16 | Vilnius Hockey Punks | NLRL | 3 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2016/17 | Vilnius Hockey Punks | NLRL | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7th | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Wysschaja League overall | 52 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Superliga / MHL overall | 68 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 206 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 55 | ||||
KHL total | 26th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Nacionalinė ledo ritulio lyga total | 7th | 6th | 16 | 22nd | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
AHL total | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4th | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
NHL overall | 863 | 27 | 136 | 163 | 1379 | 83 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 107 |
International
Represented the USSR in:
Represented the United Team at: |
Represented Russia in: |
Represented Lithuania at: |
year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | USSR | U18 European Championship | 6th | 1 | 6th | 7th | 12 | ||
1991 | USSR | U20 World Cup | 6th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 16 | ||
1992 | USSR / CIS 1 | U20 World Cup | 7th | 1 | 5 | 6th | 8th | ||
1992 | United team | Olympia | 8th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
1992 | Russia | WM | 5th place | 6th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4th | |
1996 | Russia | WM | 4th Place | 8th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
1996 | Russia | World cup | 4th Place | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14th | |
1998 | Russia | Olympia | 6th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6th | ||
2002 | Russia | Olympia | 6th | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4th | ||
2004 | Russia | World cup | 6th place | 4th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8th | |
2006 | Russia | Olympia | 4th Place | 8th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8th | |
2018 | Lithuania | WM Div. IB | 1st place | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
Juniors overall | 19th | 3 | 14th | 17th | 36 | ||||
Men overall | 56 | 3 | 14th | 17th | 50 |
( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1 play-downs / relegation )
Web links
- Darius Kasparaitis at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Darius Kasparaitis in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Darius Kasparaitis at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Darius Kasparaitis at hockeydb.com (English)
- Darius Kasparaitis at chidlovski.net (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Дарюс Каспарайтис в 41 год дебютировал в чемпионате Литвы по хоккею (Russian), accessed February 5, 2014
- ^ "King Kasparaitis" on wmib2018.iihf.hockey, accessed on April 27, 2018.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Kasparaitis, Darius |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kasparaitis, Darjus Wladowitsch; Каспарайтис, Дарюс Владович (Russian spelling) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Lithuanian ice hockey player and coach with both Russian and US citizenship |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1972 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Elektrėnai , Lithuanian SSR |