Sergei Zubov

Sergei Zubov
Zubov warms up before a game in 2007
Born (1970-07-22) 22 July 1970
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for CSKA Moscow
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Dallas Stars
SKA Saint Petersburg
National team Unified Team and
 Russia
NHL Draft 85th overall, 1990
New York Rangers
Playing career 1988–2010

Sergei Alexandrovich Zubov (Russian: Сергей Зубов; born 22 July 1970) is the current head coach of HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and a defensive assignment coach for the Russian national hockey team. A former 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 Saint Petersburg of the KHL, Zubov won the Stanley Cup twice, with the Rangers in 1994 and the Stars in 1999.

Playing career

Zubov 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 dissolution of the Soviet Union. 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 defenseman. 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.[1]

Zubov continued to play well for the Rangers, but on 31 August 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.[2] Ultimately, he was traded to the Dallas Stars on 22 June 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 had 11 consecutive years of 40+ point seasons and 30+ assists.

He was also excellent defensively and while he had a well-sized body, he was known more for his positioning and puck-dislodging abilities out of corners rather than his checking abilities. He had been a mainstay on the penalty killing squad for several years and had only recorded a negative plus/minus four times in his career, with two of them within his first three years in the league.

Zubov 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 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, Paul and Anya Zubov. His son graduated from Northeastern University in Boston and his daughter studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.

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 30 July 2009, he decided to leave the NHL as he signed a contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was also selected as a reserve by Team Russia for the 2010 Winter Olympics should an injury occur during the tournament.[3]

On 18 April 2011, it was reported that Zubov would officially retire due to hip-related injury problems.[4][5]

Coaching career

On 20 July 2015, Zubov was named to the coaching staff of the Russian national team as a defensive assistant.[6]

He was named the head coach of HC Sochi prior to the 2017–18 season.

Awards

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
1992 Albertville

Legacy

  • Ranked No. 72 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
  • Zubov left the NHL as the league's all-time scoring leader for Russian-born defensemen. He is now 2nd behind Sergei Gonchar.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988–89CSKA MoscowUSSR2914510—————
1989–90CSKA MoscowUSSR4862816—————
1990–91CSKA MoscowUSSR4165118—————
1991–92CSKA MoscowCIS364711880000
1992–93CSKA MoscowIHL10110—————
1992–93Binghamton RangersAHL3072936141155102
1992–93New York RangersNHL49823314—————
1993–94Binghamton RangersAHL21230—————
1993–94New York RangersNHL781277893922514190
1994–95New York RangersNHL38102636181038112
1995–96Pittsburgh PenguinsNHL6411556622181141526
1996–97Dallas StarsNHL781330432470332
1997–98Dallas StarsNHL7310475716174592
1998–99Dallas StarsNHL811041512023112134
1999–2000Dallas StarsNHL779334218182796
2000–01Dallas StarsNHL7910415124101564
2001–02Dallas StarsNHL8012324422—————
2002–03Dallas StarsNHL821144552612410144
2003–04Dallas StarsNHL77735422051120
2005–06Dallas StarsNHL781358714651566
2006–07Dallas StarsNHL781242542660442
2007–08Dallas StarsNHL464313512111564
2008–09Dallas StarsNHL100440—————
2009–10SKA Saint PetersburgKHL531032423240110
USSR/CIS totals 154 17 18 35 42 8 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 1068 152 619 771 337 164 24 93 117 62

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1988 Soviet Union EJC 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 6 0 2 2 2
1989 Soviet Union WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 0 5 5 4
1990 Soviet Union WJC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 7 1 3 4 14
1992 Unified Team OG 1st, gold medalist(s) 8 0 1 1 0
1992 Russia WC 5th 6 2 2 4 10
1996 Russia WCH SF 4 1 1 2 0
Junior totals 20 1 10 11 20
Senior totals 18 3 4 7 10

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalinsky, George (2004). Garden of Dreams. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. ISBN 1-58479-343-0.
  2. ↑ "Sergei Zubov". New York Rangers Legends. 2009.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Brad Gardner. "Report: Former Dallas Star Sergei Zubov Retires". Defending Big D.
  5. ↑ "Сергей Зубов завершает карьеру". sport-express.ru.
  6. ↑ "Sergei Zubov named assistant coach of Russian national team". NHL.com.
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