Alexander Mogilny
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| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 210 lb (95 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
New Jersey Devils Buffalo Sabres Vancouver Canucks Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Nationality |  Russia |
| Born | February 18, 1969, Khabarovsk, Russia |
| NHL Draft | 89th overall, 1988 Buffalo Sabres |
| Pro Career | 1990 – present |
Alexander Mogilny (Александр Геннадиевич Могильный, Aleksandr Gennadijevič Mogil'nyj) born on February 18, 1969, in Khabarovsk, USSR (now Russia) is a professional ice hockey player.
His most common nickname was "Alexander the Great" (coined by Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret) but he has sinced passed that down to Russian Phenom Alexander Ovechkin. His nickname now is Almo[citation needed]. Ovechkin later said in an interview how he was honored to be receiving the nickname of one of his boyhood heroes.
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[edit] Playing career
In the Soviet Union, he played on a line with center Sergei Fedorov and winger Pavel Bure, a lethal combination that is best remembered as one of the most lethal lines in hockey history, as all three posted spectacular numbers with their combination of blinding speed and superior puck-handling skills. He represented the Soviet Union in 1988 and 1989 at the World Junior Championships, winning the Best Forward award in 1988. Mogilny also played for the senior Soviet team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics. After the medal ceremony of 1989 World championships, he left the Soviet team and defected to North America with the help of representatives of the Buffalo Sabres, the NHL club that had drafted him, 89th overall, a year earlier in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Mogilny chose the number 89 in recognition of both the year he defected and his place in the draft.
In the NHL, he has played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and the New Jersey Devils (winning the Stanley Cup in 2000). He signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2001, and quickly became one of their top players. In the process, he became the only person to dethrone Leafs captain Mats Sundin as the team's leading scorer since his Leafs debut, beating him by 7 points in 2002-03. In the 2003-04 season he injured his hip and had to have major surgery and missed most of the season.
After recovering over the lockout cancelled 2004-05 season, he re-signed with New Jersey in August 2005, agreeing to US$7 million for two years. Mogilny was placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils, and has been assigned to the Albany River Rats, the Devils minor league affiliate, in order to make salary cap room for Patrik Elias' return. His 473 career NHL goals are the most ever for a player entering the AHL. He currently is on long term injured reserve due to a hip injury.
He has won numerous awards, including the Lady Byng Trophy in the 2002-03 NHL season. Mogilny tied Teemu Selänne for the most goals scored in the 1992-93 NHL season, scoring 76 goals in 77 games. In that same season he scored his 50th goal in his 46th game; however, it does not count as an official 50 goals in 50 games because his 50th goal came in his team's 53rd game. The following season he would become only the second non-North American player to captain an NHL team (after Lars-Erik Sjöberg of the Winnipeg Jets) when he was named the captain of the Sabres after the injury to Pat LaFontaine. He had been the leading scorer on his team for several seasons.
Alexander Mogilny was the first ever European to lead the league in goals scored, first Russian to be named to the NHL all-star team, and is (as of the end of the 2005-06 season) the second all-time Russian scorer in the NHL. Mogilny should have also been the first Russian player to scored 1000 points in the NHL but several injuries have delayed him from reaching that goal until finally fellow Russian Megastar Sergei Fedorov reached the mark just a few games before Mogilny. Fedorov later said in an interview saying "I really have to share this honor with Alexander Mogilny. I knew he would've reached the mark much earlier than I did if it wasn't for his injuries."[citation needed]
[edit] Current events
- According to a weekly edition of Hockey News, Mogilny spent his last couple weeks in the summer driving Evgeni Malkin around in L.A. to the practice rinks and sharing with him the stories of Mogilny's defection back in 1989.
- After the return of Patrik Elias in January 2006, the Devils assigned Mogilny to the Albany River Rats, their AHL affiliate at the time.
- On the eve of the 2006-07 season, the Devils were applied for and were granted an injury exception for Mogilny's degenerative hip. [1] The exception technically does not remove Mogilny from the team's payroll; Mogilny will continue be paid his US$3.5 million salary for the season, but the exception means the league will allow the Devils to exceed the salary cap by that same amount.
[edit] Awards
- World Junior Championship Best Forward 1988
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - 2003
- NHL Second All-Star Team - 1993, 1996
- Played in NHL All-Star Game - 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001
- Member of Triple Gold Club
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1986-87 | CSKA Moscow | USSR | 28 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1987-88 | CSKA Moscow | USSR | 39 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1988-89 | CSKA Moscow | USSR | 31 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 24 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1989-90 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 65 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1990-91 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 62 | 30 | 34 | 64 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1991-92 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 67 | 39 | 45 | 84 | 73 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1992-93 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 77 | 76 | 51 | 127 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 1993-94 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 66 | 32 | 47 | 79 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 1994-95 | Spartak Moscow | Rus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 44 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1995-96 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 79 | 55 | 52 | 107 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 1996-97 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 76 | 31 | 42 | 73 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 51 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 36 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 59 | 14 | 31 | 45 | 58 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 47 | 21 | 17 | 38 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2000-01 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 75 | 43 | 40 | 83 | 43 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 8 | ||
| 2001-02 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 66 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 8 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 8 | ||
| 2002-03 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 33 | 46 | 79 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2003-04 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 37 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2005-06 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 34 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005-06 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 19 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 17 | |||||||
| NHL Totals | 990 | 473 | 559 | 1032 | 432 | 124 | 39 | 47 | 86 | 58 | ||||
Statistics as of 20 Aug 2006
[edit] International play
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's ice hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1988 Calgary | Team | |
Played for the Soviet Union in:
- 1988 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
- 1988 World Junior Championships
- 1989 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
- 1989 World Championships
Played for Russia in:
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Pat LaFontaine |
Buffalo Sabres captains 1993-94* |
Succeeded by Pat LaFontaine |
note: Mogilny served as captain, during most of the 1993-94 season, while Pat LaFontaine was injured & out of the line-up
| Preceded by Brett Hull |
NHL Goal Leader 1993 (tied with Teemu Selänne) |
Succeeded by Pavel Bure |
| Preceded by Ron Francis |
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 2003 |
Succeeded by Brad Richards |
[edit] External links
Martin Brodeur • Alex Brooks (IR) • Sergei Brylin • Scott Clemmensen • Jim Dowd • Patrik Elias (C) • Mark Fraser • Brian Gionta • Scott Gomez • Andy Greene • Cam Janssen • Jamie Langenbrunner (A) • Brad Lukowich • John Madden (A) • Paul Martin • Richard Matvichuk (IR) • Alexander Mogilny (IR) • Jay Pandolfo (A) • Zach Parise • Brian Rafalski • Erik Rasmussen • Michael Rupp • Colin White (A) • Jason Wiemer (IR) • Travis Zajac
Players • Award Winners • Continental Airlines Arena • Prudential Center
Head Coaches: MacMillan • McVie • Carpenter • Schoenfeld • Cunniff • Brooks • Lemaire • Ftorek • Robinson • Constantine • Burns • Lamoriello • Julien
Atlantic Division titles: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06
Eastern Conference Championships: 1994-95, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1969 births | Buffalo Sabres players | Lady Byng winners | Living people | Naturalized citizens of the United States | New Jersey Devils players | National Hockey League 50-goal seasons | National Hockey League 100-point seasons | National Hockey League All-Stars | Olympic ice hockey players of the Soviet Union | Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics | Russian ice hockey players | Soviet defectors | Soviet ice hockey players | Stanley Cup champions | Toronto Maple Leafs players | Triple Gold Club | Vancouver Canucks players | Albany River Rats players | Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
