Darius Kasparaitis

Darius Kasparaitis (born October 16, 1972) is a Lithuanian-American former professional ice hockey defenceman.

He mainly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers.

He is a four-time Olympian and three-time medalist, winning one gold medal, one silver medal, and one bronze medal.

Kasparaitis played his first game for Dynamo Moscow, one of the premier teams in the Soviet Union, at the age of 16 during the 1988–89 season, and won the Soviet League championship with them in 1992.

Kasparaitis first had international experience came at the 1990 European Junior Championships.

He contributed to the gold medal-winning team by recordings six points (including one goal).

The following year, he competed in the 1991 World Junior Championships.

He recorded seven points (including one goal) as the Soviet junior team won the gold medal.

In August 1991, he joined the Soviet Union senior team and played in two exhibition games against Sweden.

He received the title of Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1992 and was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.

His 28 career Olympic games is a record among Russian national team's players.

Kasparaitis left Lithuania for Russia at age 14 after training with Aleksey Nikiforov to play ice hockey at a higher level.

He was drafted by the New York Islanders with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

Kasparaitis played for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers.

Kasparaitis was known for his aggressive physical playing style and led his teams in hits several times, including his rookie season, in 1992–93 NHL season with the New York Islanders.

Kasparaitis won a gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics as a member of the United Team, and after the Olympics, he played for the Russian national team.

He made his first appearance for Russia on 12 April 1992 in a friendly match against Sweden.

In the same year, Kasparaitis participated in the 1992 World Championships and the Russian national team finished in fifth place.

On November 17, 1996, Kasparaitis was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 1996, he competed in two international competitions, the 1996 World Championships and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, finishing fourth in both.

While playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1998 Kasparaitis made a hard hit on Eric Lindros that knocked Lindros out of action for 18 games.

In 1998, he participated in the 1998 Winter Olympics, where he reached the final and won a silver medal.

On March 19, 2002, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline, where he spent the remainder of the 2001–02 NHL season.

Kasparaitis eventually wound up with the New York Rangers when he was signed on July 2, 2002.

During the 2005–06 season, he served as an alternate captain of the Rangers, along with Jaromír Jágr and Steve Rucchin, as the Rangers had no captain.

Because the Lithuanian national ice hockey team was relatively weak and had not ever played in major competitions, Kasparaitis chose to represent Russia in official events.

In December 2005, Kasparaitis was chosen to represent Russia in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Kasparaitis was replaced as an alternate captain with the Rangers by newly acquired Brendan Shanahan.

He was waived by the New York Rangers on January 24, 2007 and subsequently demoted to the Rangers' affiliate in Hartford.

Kasparaitis was once again waived by the Rangers prior to the 2007–08 season.

On November 3, 2007, the Rangers announced that Kasparaitis had been loaned to SKA St. Petersburg of the then-Russian Superleague (RSL), now the KHL.

The deal was made possible due to a lack of a transfer agreement between Russia and North America at the time.

However, the Rangers retained his NHL rights.

Kasparaitis left an enduring impression with Ranger fans with the team salute that he created.

After every Rangers home win, Kasparaitis would direct the players to center ice and have the whole team follow in saluting the fans by raising their sticks in the air before departing the ice.

The tradition is still carried on by the Rangers for every home win.

He continued to play for SKA Saint Petersburg in the 2008–09 season.

In 26 games, he contributed a single assist.

In the 2009–10 season, he did not play due to an injury and eventually announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season.

Since his retirement he has attempted to become eligible to represent Lithuania internationally, which he finally did in 2018, playing for the team in the World Ice Hockey Championships Division 1B.