Mikhail Vladimirovich Tatarinov (Михаил Владимирович Татаринов; born July 16, 1966, in

Angarsk Angarsk ( rus, Ангарск, p=ɐnˈgarsk) is a city and the administrative center of Angarsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kitoy River, from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History Ang ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

. A top offensive-minded defenceman for many years in the Soviet Union, Tatarinov was selected in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

, however, it was another six years before he finally had a chance to play 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 ...

. He won the gold medal in the World Junior Championships in 1984 and 1986, and he played for many years with Moscow Dynamo. He was also part of the Soviet team that took on the NHL All-Stars in

Rendez-vous '87 Rendez-vous '87 was a two-game international ice hockey series of games between the Soviet Union national ice hockey team and a team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League, held in Quebec City. It replaced the NHL's All-Star festivities ...

. In 1990 he was voted on to the all-star team and was also named best defenceman of the tournament after helping the USSR win the gold medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. In 1990, Tatarinov finally was able to come over to North America to play for the Capitals, and became the first young Soviet player to play in the NHL without defecting. He played one season with the Capitals before he was traded to the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

, and had a very good season on a very bad Nordiques team in the 91–92. His second season with Quebec was limited by injuries. Tatarinov signed with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

prior to the

1993–94 NHL season The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 26 teams with the addition of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The Minnesota North Stars relocated to become the ...

, and played in just two games for the Bruins before injuries forced him to retire. He later struggled with alcoholism and spent time in jail for murder after his career ended.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

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Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1966 births Boston Bruins players HC Dynamo Moscow players Living people Ice hockey people from Angarsk Quebec Nordiques players Russian ice hockey defencemen Sokil Kyiv players Soviet expatriate ice hockey players Soviet ice hockey defencemen Providence Bruins players Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players {{Russia-icehockey-defenceman-stub