Dmitri Viktorovich Uchaykin (russian: Дмитрий Викторович Учайкин) (10 June 1980 – 31 March 2013) was a Russian ice hockey left-winger. Uchaykin was born in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of th ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Hockey career

From 1998 until 2009, Uchaykin played for his hometown team

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (russian: Хоккейный клуб Амур), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Khabarovsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey L ...

. Afterwards, Uchaykin played briefly for

HC Yugra Hockey Club Yugra (russian: Хоккейный клуб Югра), is a professional ice hockey team based in Khanty-Mansiysk, Yugra, Russia. They currently play in the Supreme Hockey League, the second-highest league in Russia, and played in ...

(

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city and the administrative center of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia. It stand ...

Rubin Tyumen Rubin Tyumen is an ice hockey team in Tyumen, Russia. They play in the VHL, the second level of Russian ice hockey. History The club's direct predecessor was a team called Vodnik Tyumen. It participated in lower levels of the Soviet hockey champ ...

(then "Gazovik"), and

Ermak Angarsk Yermak Angarsk is an ice hockey team in Angarsk, Russia. They play in the VHL, the second level of Russian ice hockey. The club was formerly affiliated with Metallurg Novokuznetsk Metallurg Novokuznetsk (russian: Металлург Новоку� ...

. Uchaykin last played for

Yertis Pavlodar Yertis Pavlodar Hockey Club ( kk, Ertis Pavlodar Hokkeı Klýby, «Ертіс» Павлодар хоккей клубы), commonly referred to as Irtysh Pavlodar, is a professional ice hockey team based in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. They were found ...

of the

Kazakhstan Hockey Championship The Pro Hokei Ligasy formerly known as ''Republic of Kazakhstan Open Ice Hockey Championship'' ''( kk, Шайбалық хоккей бойынша Қазақстан Республикасының ашық чемпионаты, russian: Откры ...

, since 2010.

Death

On March 27, 2013, Uchaykin was on the ice of the Irtysh Pavlodar team against Arystan Temirtau in the playoff match of the Kazakhstan Ice Hockey Championship, when he received a strong blow to the neck with a stick from Donatas Kumelyauskas from Arystan. After the game, he went home where he felt unwell. That night Uchaykin fell into a coma. He was urgently taken to the hospital. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 4 a.m. on March 31 without regaining consciousness. He was survived by his wife Anna, who was pregnant at the time of his death, and daughter Polina. A memorial service for Uchaykin was held in

Pavlodar Pavlodar ( ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located 450 km northeast of the national capital Astana and 405 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. , the c ...

on 2 April. Uchaykin was buried in his hometown Khabarovsk on 4 April.

Reactions

“We have lost one of the best players. The team and the fans are grieving, it's hard for everyone to talk about it. On April 4, the game "Ertys-Pavlodar" and "Arystan" will take place, here in Pavlodar. We dedicate it to Dmitry Uchaikin. Number 17 will be assigned to him forever, and the athlete's jersey will be raised to the ceiling, "- said the press secretary of the hockey club Veniamin Ignatenko on Monday 1 April

The director of Yertis Pavlodar stated to the media that Kumeliauskas's fatal hit on Uchaykin was legal. Kumeliauskas himself also denied violating the rules. No disciplinary action was taken against him by the league; nevertheless, Arystan chose to keep Kumeliauskas on the bench during the next game of the series on 1 April. The club announced that Uchaykin's #17 would be permanently retired, and that it had paid Uchaykin's widow his remaining contract salary at the time of his death.

References

External links

* 1980 births 2013 deaths Amur Khabarovsk players HC Yugra players Ice hockey players who died while playing Russian ice hockey left wingers Sport deaths in Kazakhstan Sportspeople from Khabarovsk Yertis Pavlodar players {{Russia-icehockey-winger-stub