Dmitri Sergeyevich Yushkevich (; born 19 November 1971) is a 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He spent eleven seasons 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 four different teams, but most notably for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Playing career

Dmitri Yushkevich was drafted in the sixth round, 122nd overall, by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

in the 1991 NHL entry draft. After winning a gold medal at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

, Yushkevich made his NHL debut with the Flyers in the 1992–93 season. He appeared in all 82 games in his rookie season, tallying five goals and adding 27 assists. After three seasons with the Flyers, Yushkevich was traded to the

before the 1995–96 season. In Toronto, Yushkevich blossomed into a top-pair caliber NHL defenceman, particularly under the guidance of coach Pat Quinn, who joined the team in 1998. Between 1998–99 and 2001–02, Yushkevich also emerged as the leader of the Maple Leafs' defense corps. During the 1999 playoffs, Yushkevich paired up with

Danny Markov Daniil Yevgenyevich Markov (; born 30 July 1976) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played a nine-year career in the National Hockey League. He also played 11 seasons in the top tier Russian leagues. Playing career As a ...

to neutralize Penguins' superstar

Jaromír Jágr Jaromír Jágr (; born 15 February 1972) is a Czech professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh ...

, thus helping the Leafs advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Yushkevich earned a spot in the 2000 NHL All-Star game, which took place in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In February 2002, Yushkevich was diagnosed with a life-threatening blood clot. As a result, Yushkevich was forced to miss the rest of the 2001–02 season. Despite Yushkevich's pleas to accept the risk and re-join the club in time for the playoffs, he was not cleared to play by the team. As a Maple Leaf, Yushkevich totalled 506 regular season games and 44 playoff games. His performances with the Leafs earned him a reputation of a warrior, a

grinder Grinder may refer to: Machinery *Various types of grinding machine, used in a machining operation to refine the surface of materials *Food grinders **Blade grinder, includes food processors, blenders, electric coffee and spice grinders, etc. **Co ...

, and an expert shot-blocker. He was traded to 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 ...

before the 2002–03 season for

Róbert Švehla Róbert Švehla ( , ; born January 2, 1969) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL for 9 seasons from 1995 until 2003 for the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Career Švehla was drafted 78th overall b ...

. After only 23 games with the Panthers, Yushkevich was traded again. The

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

acquired him, along with a draft pick, in exchange for Andreas Lilja and

Jaroslav Bednář Jaroslav Bednář (born 9 November 1976) is a Czech professional ice hockey winger, who currently plays with HC Vrchlabí in the Czech.2 Liga Playing career Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Bednář began his career with Slavia Prague in 1994 a ...

. Yushkevich would join his third team of the 2002–03 season in March, when the Kings traded him back to Philadelphia for a pair of draft picks. In the 2003–04 season, Yushkevich returned to Russia to play 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 ...

of 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 ...

. He then joined his hometown

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey club based in Cherepovets, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel (Builder) Cher ...

for the 2004–05 season before moving on to

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk () is a professional ice hockey club based in Magnitogorsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club also competed in the Champions Hockey League (2008–09), Champion ...

for the 2005–06 season. For the 2006–07 season, he played for SKA St. Petersburg. He then returned to his hometown team of

. Yushkevich decided to retire in January 2008 after the death of his first wife Oksana so that he could take care of their three children. Yushkevich was a member of the Russian national team at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

, earning a silver medal. Yushkevich has since come out of retirement and is playing for Sibir Novosibirsk of the recently formed

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 led all defenceman on the team in scoring. On the 3rd of November 2009 it was announced that the Finnish hockey team Kärpät have recruited him. Yushkevich was named among 145 other inductees as the first group to be inducted into the Russian Hockey Hall of Fame on February 17, 2014.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

*Champion of CIS: 1992 (With Dinamo) * NHL All-Star Game winner: 2000 *Russian champion: 2007 (With Metallurg Magnitogorsk) *Winner of Turnir Puchkova: 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yushkevich, Dmitri 1971 births Florida Panthers players HC Dynamo Moscow players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Living people Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Los Angeles Kings players Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Metallurg Magnitogorsk players National Hockey League All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic ice hockey players for Russia Olympic ice hockey players for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Russia Oulun Kärpät players Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Russia men's national ice hockey team coaches Russian ice hockey defencemen Severstal Cherepovets players SKA Saint Petersburg players Soviet ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Cherepovets Toronto Maple Leafs players