Andrei Vasilievich Nikolishin (; born 25 March 1973) is a Russian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who last played for Sokil Kyiv of the Professional Hockey League of Ukraine. Over his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

career with the Hartford Whalers,

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

he played in 628 games, with 93 goals and 280 points.

Playing career

Nikolishin began his professional career with

HC Dynamo Moscow HC Dynamo Moscow () is a professional ice hockey club based in Moscow, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Dynamo has won the Gagarin Cup twice, in 2011–12 KHL season, 2011–12 and 2012–13 ...

. He played for four years domestically in Russia and was named Russian player of the Year in the 1993–94 season. During this time Andrei also captured a gold medal with the CIS in the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

World Junior Championships and represented Russia in the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

World Championships,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Winter Olympics and the

World Championships. Nikolishin was drafted in the second round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, picked 47th by the Hartford Whalers. He made his NHL debut in the delayed 1994–95 season with the Whalers and following with 51 points in the 1995-96 season. After representing Russia in the 1996 World Cup, Nikolishin started the 1996-97 season with the Whalers but was shortly traded to the

for Curtis Leschyshyn on November 9, 1996. In the following 1997-98 campaign, Nikolishin established himself as an important checking and special teams player, recording 13 assists in the playoffs helping the Capitals reach the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

finals before falling to champions the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. After a brief holdout prior to the 1998–99 season, Nikolishin was a main-stay on the checking line for the Capitals over the next four seasons. After representing Russia in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Nikolishin was traded from the Capitals, along with Chris Simon, to the

for Michael Nylander and a

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

third round pick (Steve Werner) on November 1, 2002. Nikolishin played just one season with the Blackhawks before he was again dealt on June 21, 2003, to the Colorado Avalanche prior to the 2003–04 season, his last in the NHL. Due to the 2004 NHL Lockout, Andrei returned to Russia and signed with

HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow (, ''Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow'') is a professional ice hockey club based in Moscow, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is referred to in the West as "Central R ...

on June 4, 2004. He has since played with Lada Togliatti,

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Omsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Franchise history Early years of Omsk hock ...

and SKA St. Petersburg. On November 5, 2007, Nikolishin was signed by Traktor Chelyabinsk and remained with the team as captain when Traktor joined the newly formed

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

in the 2008–09 season.

Personal

Nikolishin comes from a Ukrainian family. Following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the brother of his grandfather went on to serve in the Polish Army, and eventually emigrate the family to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, known for its large Ukrainian Canadian diaspora population. His father, Vasyl Nikolishin, was a victim of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, and was exiled from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

to a

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

forced labor coal mine in Vorkuta, the largest center of the camps in European Russia, for a period of 25 years. His parents did not tell him of this until he was older, out of fear of repressions, jeopardizing his career, and the stigma of being an

enemy of the people The terms enemy of the people and enemy of the nation are designations for the political opponents and the social class, social-class opponents of the Power (social and political), power group within a larger social unit, who, thus identified, ...

that would restrict his travel abroad. Upon his death, his father's body was repatriated to Vivnya, Lviv Oblast.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolishin, Andrei 1973 births Living people Avangard Omsk players Chicago Blackhawks players Colorado Avalanche players Hartford Whalers draft picks Hartford Whalers players HC CSKA Moscow players HC Dynamo Moscow players HC Lada Togliatti players Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Olympic ice hockey players for Russia Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Vorkuta Portland Pirates players Russian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Russian ice hockey centres Ukrainian people of Russian descent SKA Saint Petersburg players Sokil Kyiv players Soviet ice hockey centres Traktor Chelyabinsk players Washington Capitals players Sportspeople from the Komi Republic