Yury Ivanovich Babenko (; born 2 January 1978) 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 ...

player and coach. He most notably played for

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

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 ...

(KHL) and briefly with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

of 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).

Playing career

Babenko was drafted by the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

in the 2nd round, 51st overall. After a season in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

for the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, Michigan, Plymouth, Michigan, United States, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated t ...

, Babenko joined the Avalanche organization in 1998. After three seasons in the

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 ...

for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

, he finally made his

NHL 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 ...

debut for Colorado during the

2000–01 NHL season The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, 30 teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalan ...

, playing 3 games in all without registering a point. Babenko spent another year with Hershey before returning to Russia with

. He has also played for

Khimik Voskresensk Hockey Club Atlant Moscow Oblast (, ) was a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast. They were members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League in the 2014–15 KHL season, 2014–15 season, but have ...

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 ...

, and SKA St. Petersburg. On June 28, 2009, Babenko returned on a one-year contract to former club HC MVD for the 2009–10 season. After scoring 10 point in 35 games and helping MVD advance to the finals, Babenko followed MVD into the merger with Dynamo Moscow, to sign with UHC Dynamo for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season on May 29, 2010.

Coaching career

Following his professional playing career, Babenko moved into the coaching ranks, remaining with Dynamo Moscow as an assistant coach for two seasons. He later served as the head coach of

HC Vityaz Hockey Club Vityaz Moscow Region () is a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In the first few seasons of the KHL, the team was widely known for pl ...

of the KHL for the 2021–22 season. He joined

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

coaching ranks as an assistant during the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, and was elevated at interim coach before returning to an assistant role following the hiring of

Zinetula Bilyaletdinov Zinetula Khaidarovich "Bill" Bilyaletdinov (, ; born 13 March 1955) is a former Russian ice hockey player of Tatar descent, who played for the USSR. From 1973–1988 Bilyaletdinov played for HC Dynamo Moscow. As a coach, he won the Russian Cha ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1978 births Colorado Avalanche draft picks Colorado Avalanche players HC Dynamo Moscow players HC Khimik Voskresensk players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players HC MVD players Hershey Bears players Krylya Sovetov Moscow players Living people Ice hockey people from Penza Plymouth Whalers players Russian ice hockey centres SKA Saint Petersburg players {{Russia-icehockey-centre-stub