Darius Kasparaitis

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Flag of Lithuania and Russia.png United StatesUnited States  Darius Kasparaitis Ice hockey player
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

Template: Infobox ice hockey player / country code 2Template: Infobox ice hockey player / file type

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

International

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 2nd place, silver 6th 1 6th 7th 12
1991 USSR U20 World Cup 2nd place, silver 6th 1 3 4th 16
1992 USSR / CIS 1 U20 World Cup 1st place, gold 7th 1 5 6th 8th
1992 United team Olympia 1st place, gold 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 2nd place, silver 6th 0 2 2 6th
2002 Russia Olympia 3rd place, bronze 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 )

1Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union during the tournament, the team was renamed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Дарюс Каспарайтис в 41 год дебютировал в чемпионате Литвы по хоккею (Russian), accessed February 5, 2014
  2. ^ "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