Andrei Anatolyevich Miezin (, ; born 8 July 1974) is a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian ice hockey coach and a retired goaltender.

Playing career

Mezin left his native Belarus in 1993 to head to North America and would spend five seasons playing in different leagues, including the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, the International Hockey League and the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

. From 1998 to 2002, he played in Germany: one year with the

Nürnberg Ice Tigers The Nürnberg Ice Tigers are a professional ice hockey club located in Nuremberg, Germany. They play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. History The roots of the team can be traced back to SG Nürnberg, an ice hockey clu ...

and three with the

Berlin Capitals BSC Preussen was an ice hockey team in Berlin, Germany that existed between 1983 and 2005. They played in the highest German league from 1987 to 2001, reaching the playoff semifinals on seven occasions. History * BSC Preussen was founded in 1983 i ...

. He then played in Russia and the Czech Republic. Starting 2008, he spent time with KHL teams

HC Dinamo Minsk Hockey Club Dinamo Minsk or HC Dinamo Minsk (; , ''Dynama-Minsk'') is a professional ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Dinamo has qualified for the KHL playof ...

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (, ), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a professional ice hockey club based in Yaroslavl, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its ...

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...

and

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 ...

. Mezin gained international attention in 2002 as a member of the

Belarus national men's ice hockey team The Belarusian men's national ice hockey team (; ) is the national ice hockey team that represents Belarus. The team is controlled by the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association. Belarus was ranked 14th in the world by the IIHF as of the 2021 World R ...

at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

. Despite not winning a game in the Group D round robin, Belarus beat the

Sweden national men's ice hockey team The Sweden men's national ice hockey team () is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called " Big Six", the unofficial group of the six s ...

in the quarterfinals. Mezin was stellar, holding a star-laden Swedish team to three goals on more than 50 shots. The game was won by Belarus late in the third on a long shot gaffe made by Tommy Salo in the Swedish net. Belarus ended up finishing in fourth place after losing to Canada in the semifinals. Mezin has represented the Belarus national team at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Games and played several World Championships. On 1 October 2008 Mezin and Metallurg Magnitogorsk faced the

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 ...

of the NHL in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

Victoria Cup. Mezin stopped 40 out of 44 shots, playing a very respectable game in the 4–3 loss.Rangers rally to win Victoria Cup
Dan Rosen, NHL.com, October 1, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2009 Mezin retired in 2014.

Coaching career

He has been serving as goaltender coach of

of the

Kontinental Hockey League 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 ...

(KHL) since 2016.

Off the ice

In the offseason, Mezin lives in

Kyiv, Ukraine Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Career statistics

Awards and honours

* Belarus Player of the Year (1998, 1999, 2005, 2006) * All-Star Team ( WC 2006, WC 2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mezin, Andrei 1974 births Ak Bars Kazan players Avangard Omsk players Belarusian ice hockey goaltenders BSC Preussen Berlin players Russian ice hockey goaltenders HC Dinamo Minsk players 21st-century Belarusian sportsmen Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Las Vegas Thunder players Living people Metallurg Magnitogorsk players Olympic ice hockey players for Belarus Roanoke Express players Ice hockey people from Chelyabinsk Salavat Yulaev Ufa players SKA Saint Petersburg players Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Belarusian expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Belarusian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Belarusian ice hockey coaches