Robert Burakovsky (born November 24, 1966) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 ...

coach and former player. He is the current head coach for the Malmö team in Sweden's U16 Elit league. Before turning to coaching, Burakovsky played 17 seasons of professional hockey, including 23 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

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

during 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 ...

Playing career

He was drafted 217th overall by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He began his career in Sweden in 1985, playing in the

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

for

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, Swedish Hockey League (SHL), after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus ...

until 1989 when he moved to AIK and then

Malmö IF Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. He then made the move to North America when he was signed by the Ottawa Senators, but spent the majority of his spell playing for their

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

Prince Edward Island Senators The Prince Edward Island Senators were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1993 to 1996. Originally located in New Haven, Connecticut, for 21 seasons, including one as the affiliate of the National ...

, and left after just one season. Burakovsky moved to Austria to play for

Klagenfurt AC Klagenfurt Athletic Sports Club or EC KAC () is an Austrian professional ice hockey team in the ICE Hockey League. The team plays their home games in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria at Stadthalle. EC KAC has won the most Austrian ice hockey Champ ...

for a season before returning to Malmö in 1995. In 1997 he moved to Germany to play in their top league, the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

, and played for the

Kassel Huskies The EC Kassel Huskies are a professional ice hockey club based in Kassel, Hessen, Germany. The club currently competes in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. The Huskies were founded in 1977 and have competed in the top five levels o ...

. Soon after he was off to Finland to play in the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

where he played for JYP and

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

. In 1998, he signed with

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

team

SC Herisau SC Herisau is a Swiss 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 ...

and had his most productive year to date, scoring 38 goals and 70 points. He later moved to

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The team was the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015–16 season wit ...

in Nationalliga A, where he led the team in points in the 1999–00 season with 49. He returned to the Elitserien in 2000 with a second spell with Leksands and a third spell in Malmö before another brief spell in Germany with the DEG Metro Stars. In 2002, he moved to the

Oddset Ligaen The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams. Teams from the Superisligaen can participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Ho ...

in Denmark where he spent two seasons with Rødovre IK and then moved to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in Italy, playing for

HC Merano HC Merano is a professional ice hockey team in Merano, Italy. They play in the Alps Hockey League History Merano was founded in 1968. They won the Serie A twice, in 1986 and 1999. Since 2004 the club is playing in the 2nd highest league in Italy ...

. His stay in Italy was a brief one however as he returned to Denmark in 2004 with Aalborg IK for two seasons, followed by a spell with the

Herlev Hornets The Herlev Eagles are a Danish ice hockey team based in Herlev, part of the Urban area of Copenhagen, that plays in the Metal Ligaen the top tier of the sport in Denmark. The team is based in Herlev and play their home games at the Herlev Skøjte ...

. He currently plays for

EHC Biel EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the te ...

in the Swiss second-tier Nationalliga B having moved from

IK Pantern Ishockeyklubben Pantern, also known as IK Pantern, are a Swedish ice hockey club based in Malmö. They currently play in Hockeyettan, the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. they were reformed in 2019. History IK Pantern was founded in 1959. On ...

in Sweden's third tier during the 2007–08 season. During the late winter season 2009, he joined the team KRIF (Kallinge

Ronneby Ronneby is a locality and the seat of Ronneby Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 12,029 inhabitants in 2010. Ronneby is regarded as the heart of "the Garden of Sweden", and in 2005 the park "Brunnsparken" in Ronneby was voted Sweden's m ...

IF). In 2012 Burakovsky retired from hockey.

Personal life

Burakovsky is Jewish, and his father, Benny, was an ice hockey coach. Robert's brother Mikael was also a professional ice hockey player, and Robert's son,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, was selected 23rd overall 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 ...

in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burakovsky, Robert 1966 births Living people AaB Ishockey players AIK IF players Düsseldorfer EG players EC KAC players EHC Biel players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players HC Merano players Herlev Hornets players Ice hockey people from Malmö Ilves players JYP Jyväskylä players Kassel Huskies players Leksands IF players Malmö Redhawks players New York Rangers draft picks Ottawa Senators players Prince Edward Island Senators players Rødovre Mighty Bulls players SC Herisau players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Denmark Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Swedish ice hockey right wingers Swedish people of Russian descent Swedish people of Russian-Jewish descent