Artyom Kryukov (born March 5, 1982) is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

who played in 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). He was drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Despite his high draft status, Kryukov never played a professional game in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, spending his entire career in his native

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He has played for

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 ...

HC Sibir Novosibirsk Hockey Club Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast (, ), also known as HC Sibir or Sibir Novosibirsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Novosibirsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Ice ...

Vityaz Chekhov Hockey Club Vityaz Moscow Region () is a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In the first few seasons of the KHL, the team was widely known for pl ...

, and

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 ...

in the Kontinental Hockey League. Kryukov missed the entire

2009–10 KHL season The 2009–10 KHL season was the second season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It was held from 10 September 2009 to 27 April 2010, with a break for the Olympic winter games from 8 February to 3 March. Ak Bars Kazan defended their title by defea ...

due to a knee injury suffered in the pre-season. On May 19, 2014, Kryukov signed a one-year contract as a free agent with expansion club HC Sochi.

Career statistics

Honours

* Russian championship: 2002 (with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people Amur Khabarovsk players Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Buffalo Sabres draft picks HC Sibir Novosibirsk players HC Sochi players 21st-century Russian sportsmen HC Vityaz players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players NHL first-round draft picks Russian ice hockey centres Severstal Cherepovets players SKA Saint Petersburg players Ice hockey people from Novosibirsk {{Russia-icehockey-centre-stub