Sergei Gonchar

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For the Ukrainian cyclist, see Serhiy Honchar.

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Sergei Gonchar
Сергей Гончар
230px
Gonchar in 2015 with the Montreal Canadiens
Born (1974-04-13) 13 April 1974 (age 50)
Chelyabinsk, USSR
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Traktor Chelyabinsk
Dynamo Moscow
Washington Capitals
Boston Bruins
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators
Dallas Stars
Montreal Canadiens
National team  Russia
NHL Draft 14th overall, 1992
Washington Capitals
Playing career 1991–2015

Sergei Viktorovich Gonchar (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Гонча́р; IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐnˈtɕar]; born 13 April 1974) is a former Russian professional ice hockey player who is currently a Defensemen Development Coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has previously played for the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins (with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2009), Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars and the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Gonchar began his professional career in 1991 with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Soviet Championship League. He also played two seasons for Dynamo Moscow.

Gonchar was the first round pick, 14th overall, of the Washington Capitals in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He began his North American career in 1994, suiting up in two playoff games for the Capitals' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates. He continued with Portland in 1994–95 before making his NHL debut with the Capitals on 7 February 1995, against the Buffalo Sabres.[1] He would appear in 31 games total during the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season. The following year, in his first full-length campaign in the NHL, Gonchar would tally 41 points, showing his potential as an effective offensive defenceman.

In the 1998–99 season, Gonchar became the first Russian defenceman to score over 20 goals in the regular season.[2] The following season, Gonchar would break the 50-point mark for the first time in his career. He would also finish in fifth place in Norris Trophy voting as the NHL's best defenceman.[3]

After 57- and 67-point (tied for a career high) seasons in 2000–01 and 2002–03 respectively, Gonchar was named to the Second All-Star Team both seasons.

On 3 March 2004, in his tenth season with the Capitals, Gonchar was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Shaone Morrisonn and two draft picks. Finishing the season with Boston, he would tally 58 points, leading all NHL defencemen.[1] Between 2000 and 2004, Gonchar recorded more points than any other defenceman, with 74 goals and 241 points. [4]

Sergei Gonchar in action with Pittsburgh
File:Sergei Gonchar.jpg
Gonchar with the Penguins.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Gonchar returned to Russia to play for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he played with future Pittsburgh Penguins teammates Petr Sýkora and Evgeni Malkin.[1] After the lockout, Gonchar signed a five-year, $25 million deal with the Penguins on 4 August 2005.[5] In 2006–07, his second season with Pittsburgh, Gonchar tied a career-high with 67 points. In addition to his on-ice duties for the Penguins, Gonchar housed rookie Evgeni Malkin when he first arrived from Russia in October 2006.[6]

The following season, Gonchar helped lead the Penguins, with offensive superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, the franchise's first finals appearance since 1992. After a 65-point regular season (the eighth 50-plus point season of his career), Gonchar added 14 points in 20 playoff games as the Penguins eventually lost in the Finals to the Detroit Red Wings. Gonchar placed fourth in Norris Trophy voting, tying his best-ever placing for the League's best defenceman.[citation needed]

During the first game of the 2008–09 pre-season, Gonchar was hit into the boards by David Kočí in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, dislocating his shoulder. It was reported that he would miss four-to-six months after opting for arthroscopic surgery.[7] While both Gonchar and defensive partner Brooks Orpik claimed the hit was late, well after Gonchar had completed a pass, it was asserted by Penguins Head Coach Michel Therrien as a clean hit and that Kočí had simply "finished his check."[8][9] With the Penguins struggling to make the playoffs, Gonchar returned to play his first game of the season on 14 February 2009, against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being sidelined for 21 weeks.[10] He played in the final 25 games of the regular season and tallied 19 points, helping the Penguins into the 2009 playoffs as the Eastern Conference's fourth seed. However, playing in Game 4 of the Conference Semi-finals against the Washington Capitals, Gonchar suffered a serious knee injury. Despite being initially expected to be out for several weeks and possibly the remainder of the playoffs,[11] Gonchar returned for Game 7 of the series.[12] Gonchar and the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup in seven games, facing the Detroit Red Wings for the second consecutive year. After winning, he revealed he had been playing with a partially torn medial collateral ligament (MCL).[13]

Gonchar was sidelined with injuries again for a total of 20 games in the 2009–10 season. Despite missing time, he went on to record his ninth 50-point season in the past 10 seasons, besting Nicklas Lidström's eight. He also had his 11th season with ten goals or more, tying Sergei Zubov for the most 10+ goal seasons among Russian defencemen. Gonchar finished the season third in points-per-game average among defencemen (behind Norris Trophy nominees Mike Green and Duncan Keith). He set an NHL record on 2 March 2010, by scoring his 200th NHL goal, making him the first Russian defenceman to ever do so in the NHL.[citation needed]

From the 2000–01 season to the 2009–10 season, Gonchar tallied exactly 500 points, which was second among NHL defencemen only to Nicklas Lidström's 550 points.[14] Gonchar was also second among NHL defencemen in assists during that span with 372 assists, behind Lidström's 434 assists. However, he led the League in goals by a defenceman during that span, with 128. Rob Blake was second with 119 goals, while Lidström had 116 goals. Gonchar would actually lead the NHL in points-per-game average among NHL defencemen during that span, scoring at 0.80 points per game to Lidström's 0.76 points per game. He would also lead the League in goals created per game among NHL defencemen with 0.27 to Al MacInnis's 0.26 and Lidström's 0.25. In fact, since his first NHL season in 1995, only Lidström has scored more points among defencemen — Lidström tallied 889 points in that time, while Gonchar tallied 684 points.[15] Scott Niedermayer was third with 653 points.

File:Sergei Gonchar 2013-05-24.JPG
Gonchar with the Ottawa Senators in May 2013.

On 1 July 2010, Gonchar signed a three-year, $16 million contract with the Ottawa Senators.[16] The deal included a no-trade clause. During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Gonchar returned to his native Russia to play with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He was traded on 7 June 2013, to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2013. On 8 June 2013, Gonchar signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Stars.[17] The following year, on 11 November 2014, Gonchar was again traded, this time to the Montreal Canadiens for left wing Travis Moen.[18]

On 15 May 2015, it was announced by Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, that Gonchar will not return to the Montreal Canadiens next season.[19] Gonchar remained un-signed over the summer, and accepted an invitation to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp on a try-out basis on 14 August 2015. At the conclusion of training camp and during the pre-season, Gonchar was released by the Penguins on 3 October 2015.

Coaching career

Gonchar signalled the end of his professional playing career in accepting a Development coaching position within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization on 27 October 2015.[20]

International play

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
Silver medal – second place 1998 Nagano
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Salt Lake City
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Russia
Silver medal – second place 2010 Germany

Gonchar is a two-time Olympic medal-winner with Russia. He earned a silver medal at the 1998 Games and a bronze medal at the 2002 Games. Gonchar met his future wife, Xenia Smetanenko, then a figure skater for Armenia, at the 1998 Nagano Olympic games.[citation needed]

In addition, Gonchar also competed in the 1993 World Junior Championship, two World Cups and three World Championships.[citation needed]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Traktor Chelyabinsk CIS 31 1 0 1 6  —  —  —  —  —
1992–93 Dynamo Moscow IHL 31 1 3 4 70  —  —  —  —  —
1993–94 Dynamo Moscow IHL 44 4 5 9 36  —  —  —  —  —
1994–95 Portland Pirates AHL 61 10 32 42 67  —  —  —  —  —
1994–95 Washington Capitals NHL 31 2 5 7 22 7 2 2 4 2
1995–96 Washington Capitals NHL 78 15 26 41 60 6 2 4 6 4
1996–97 Washington Capitals NHL 57 13 17 30 36  —  —  —  —  —
1997–98 Lada Togliatti RSL 7 3 2 5 4  —  —  —  —  —
1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 72 5 16 21 66 21 7 4 11 30
1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 53 21 10 31 57  —  —  —  —  —
1999–00 Washington Capitals NHL 73 18 36 54 52 5 1 0 1 6
2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 76 19 38 57 70 6 1 3 4 2
2001–02 Washington Capitals NHL 76 26 33 59 58  —  —  —  —  —
2002–03 Washington Capitals NHL 82 18 49 67 52 6 0 5 5 4
2003–04 Washington Capitals NHL 56 7 42 49 44  —  —  —  —  —
2003–04 Boston Bruins NHL 15 4 5 9 12 7 1 4 5 4
2004–05 Metallurg Magnitogorsk RSL 40 2 17 19 57 4 1 1 2 6
2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 75 12 46 58 100  —  —  —  —  —
2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 82 13 54 67 72 5 1 3 4 2
2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 78 12 53 65 66 20 1 13 14 8
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 25 6 13 19 26 22 3 11 14 12
2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 62 11 39 50 49 13 2 10 12 4
2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 67 7 20 27 20  —  —  —  —  —
2011–12 Ottawa Senators NHL 74 5 32 37 55 7 1 3 4 6
2012–13 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 37 3 26 29 40  —  —  —  —  —
2012–13 Ottawa Senators NHL 45 3 24 27 26 10 0 6 6 14
2013–14 Dallas Stars NHL 76 2 20 22 20 6 0 0 0 4
2014–15 Dallas Stars NHL 3 0 1 1 2  —  —  —  —  —
2014–15 Montreal Canadiens NHL 45 1 12 13 16  —  —  —  —  —
NHL totals 1301 220 591 811 981 141 22 68 90 102

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1993 Russia WJC 6th 7 0 2 2 10
1996 Russia WCH SF 4 2 2 4 2
1998 Russia Oly 2nd 6 0 2 2 0
2000 Russia WC 11th 6 1 0 1 2
2002 Russia Oly 3rd 6 0 0 0 2
2004 Russia WCH 5th 4 1 2 3 6
2006 Russia Oly 4th 8 0 2 2 8
2007 Russia WC 3rd 9 1 4 5 4
2010 Russia Oly 6th 4 1 0 1 2
2010 Russia WC 2nd 5 0 4 4 0
Senior totals 52 6 16 22 26

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sergei Gonchar bio at pittsburghpenguins.com
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ic5Er_SGtJ3eyV-_3sa9xAbzSzGQ
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326242
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Washington Capitals first round draft pick
1992		 Succeeded by
Brendan Witt
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