Vitaly Serhiiovych Anikeyenko (2 January 1987 – 7 September 2011) was a Ukrainian-Russian 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 ...

player.

Life

Born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Anikeyenko spent the entirety of his professional hockey career with

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

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 ...

, save for a loan spell with

Metallurg Novokuznetsk Metallurg Novokuznetsk ( ) is a professional ice hockey team from Siberia based in Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. They are currently members of the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). History The team was founded in 1949 in Novokuznetsk (then S ...

during 2007–08. He was a member of the Russian national team that competed in the

IIHF World Championship The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tour ...

's under 18 and under 20 levels; winning a silver medal for the country in 2007. Anikeyenko was drafted 70th overall in the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL entry draft was the 43rd entry draft for the National Hockey League. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, it was postponed to July 30 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Special procedures were required to determine the order ...

by 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 ...

Death

On 7 September 2011, Anikeyenko was killed in a plane crash when a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly his entire

team, crashed at

Tunoshna Airport Yaroslavl (Tunoshna) International Airport (Tunoshna - also Tunoshnoye, or Tunoschna) () is an airport in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located 18 km southeast of Yaroslavl. It is served by medium-sized airliners. The airport is situated next ...

, just outside the city of Yaroslavl, Russia. The team was traveling to

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

to play their opening game of the season, with its coaching staff and prospects. Lokomotiv officials confirmed that the entire main roster was on the flight, including four players from the junior team. The bodies of Ukrainian teammates Anikeyenko and

Daniil Sobchenko Danylo Yevhenovych "Daniil" Sobchenko (; 13 April 1991 – 7 September 2011) was a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey player. Born in Kyiv, Sobchenko spent the entirety of his professional hockey career with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of th ...

were repatriated following the crash for burial in Ukraine. The funeral was held on 10 September at Sovskoe cemetery in Kyiv.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Vitaly Anikeyenko player profile
at RussianProspects.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Anikeyenko, Vitali 1987 births 2011 deaths Metallurg Novokuznetsk players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Ottawa Senators draft picks Russian ice hockey defencemen Russian people of Ukrainian descent Ice hockey people from Kyiv Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Ukrainian ice hockey defencemen Victims of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash