Denis Aleksandrovich Shvidki (; born November 21, 1980) is a Ukrainian-born 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 ...

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

who played 76 games in the

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 ...

(NHL) with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

. He was drafted in the first round, 12th overall, by the Panthers in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1994

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with a team from

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. After playing two seasons with the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

Torpedo 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 ...

, Shvidki made his North American debut with the

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League (OHL), based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The Colts play home games at the Sadlon Arena. The Colts joined the OHL in 1995, and previously competed at lower levels of junio ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

in the 1998–99 season. After two seasons with the Colts, he joined the Panthers'

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 ...

affiliate, the

Louisville Panthers The Louisville Panthers were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Louisville, Kentucky. Their home venue was Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The mascot was a light brown "panther" named Paws. They were a ...

, in the 2000–01 season. He also appeared in 43

NHL 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 ...

games with the Panthers that season, scoring six goals and adding ten assists. After three more seasons split between Florida and its minor league affiliates, Shvidki returned to Russia during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

and has played there since. Shvidki was reported to transfer to Kärpät Oulu (Finland) in October 2009 for the rest of the season; however, after a month's try-out, Shvidki was released. Shvidki played a single season in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, his third in the DEL, with the

Hannover Scorpions The Hannover Scorpions are a professional ice hockey team, which plays in the Oberliga, Germany's third tier ice hockey league. They previously played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga from 1996 to 2013. History Founded in 1975 as ESC Wedemark, the ...

before signing a one-year contract with 2nd Bundesliga club, Heilbronner Falken, on May 21, 2013. He was released by the club before appearing with the Falken's and completed his professional career in the lower Russian league. In mid-2015, Shvidki joined the Florida Jr. Panthers hockey club and is still coaching under that organization as of the end of the 2016–17 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shvidki, Denis 1980 births Amur Khabarovsk players Barrie Colts players Expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Florida Panthers draft picks Florida Panthers players Hannover Scorpions players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players HC Yugra players Ice hockey players from Kharkiv Krefeld Pinguine players Living people Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Louisville Panthers players NHL first-round draft picks Oulun Kärpät players San Antonio Rampage players SKA Saint Petersburg players Ukrainian ice hockey right wingers Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players