Alexei Vasilievich Gusarov (; born July 8, 1964) is a Russian former

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 ...

defenceman. He played for the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

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 ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. Gusarov and Valeri Kamensky were the first Russian-born players to achieve the Triple Gold Club, along with being one of the first 10 members in the Triple Gold Club. He reached this level while with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

Playing career

Born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(now St. Petersburg), Gusarov was a veteran of the Soviet national team before playing in the NHL. He won 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 ...

with the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He is a member of the

Triple Gold Club The Triple Gold Club is the group of ice hockey players and coaches who have won an Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic Games gold medal, a Ice Hockey World Championships, World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup, the championship t ...

, having won the 1989

IIHF World Championship The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tour ...

, the

, and the Olympic gold medal in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. Standing 6'2" and weighing in at 183 lb (83 kg), Gusarov was selected 213th overall by

in the

1988 NHL Entry Draft The 1988 NHL entry draft was the 26th NHL entry draft. It was held at the Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Teemu Selanne, who retired after the 2013–14 season. Selections by round Be ...

. Gusarov is considered to be one of the finest Russian defensemen to play in the NHL.

Retirement

After his playing career ended, Gusarov retired to Colorado, where he started coaching the AAA hockey club Evolution. He returned to Russia in 2011, first serving as an assistant general manager for

SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

before moving to HC Sochi of the KHL as an assistant coach from 2014 to 2017. Gusarov returned to Colorado, and accepted a role in scouting for the Avalanche from the 2018–19 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

Transactions

*June 21, 1995 – Rights transferred from the

to the Colorado Avalanche after Quebec's relocation *December 28, 2000 – Traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the

in exchange for the Ranger 5th round draft choice in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft ( Frantisek Skladany) *March 5, 2001 – Traded by the New York Rangers to the

in exchange for Peter Smrek

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gusarov, Alexei 1964 births Living people Colorado Avalanche players Colorado Avalanche scouts Halifax Citadels players HC CSKA Moscow players Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics New York Rangers players Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic ice hockey players for Russia Olympic ice hockey players for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Russia Quebec Nordiques draft picks Quebec Nordiques players Russian ice hockey defencemen St. Louis Blues players SKA Saint Petersburg players Soviet expatriate ice hockey players Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Canada Soviet ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Saint Petersburg Stanley Cup champions Russian expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Russian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States