Nikolai Khabibulin

Nikolai Alexandrovich Khabibulin (Николай Александрович Хабибулин, born January 13, 1973) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Known by the nickname "The Bulin Wall", he spent the majority of his playing career in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Edmonton Oilers.

Khabibulin was selected in the ninth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets.

In the 1993–94 season, he played with the touring Russian Penguins and by the start of the NHL season in January 1995, was playing in the NHL.

In 1996, he moved with the Jets to Phoenix, Arizona, where they became the Phoenix Coyotes.

In five years with the Jets/Coyotes franchise, he started at least 60 games in three of those seasons (including two instances in which he played 70 games), a heavy workload for a goaltender.

Although the team made the Stanley Cup playoffs each of these years, some claimed that their first-round exits were partly due to Khabibulin being fatigued from playing so many regular season games.

After the 1998–99 season, Khabibulin became embroiled in a bitter contract dispute with the Coyotes, and ended up holding out for an entire season.

During this year, he played for the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League (IHL), earning the James Gatschene Memorial Trophy as league MVP.

On March 5, 2001, Khabibulin was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Mike Johnson, Paul Mara, Ruslan Zainullin and the New York Islanders' second-round choice (previously acquired; Phoenix selected Matthew Spiller).

Khabibulin quickly signed a contract with Tampa Bay and by the next season, he re-emerged as a premier goaltender.

Khabibulin excelled at the international level, winning two Olympic medals (gold and bronze) and was named Best Goaltender at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

At the 2002 NHL All-Star Game his flawless, 20-save third period allowed the World All-Stars to rally for a comeback 8–5 win.

Though Éric Dazé of the Chicago Blackhawks was chosen as the All-Star MVP, Khabibulin's play was the talk of both locker rooms.

Indeed, many players were surprised that Khabibulin wasn't named MVP, an honour they felt was deserved and obvious.

MVP voting was allegedly conducted with about five minutes remaining in the game while the North American All-Stars still held the lead.

Joined by budding superstars Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards, Khabibulin helped lead the Lightning back to the playoffs in 2003, their first appearance since 1996, and then to a Stanley Cup in 2004, the first in franchise history.

Khabibulin recorded five shutouts in 23 playoff games, including three shutouts in the first-round match-up against the New York Islanders (tied for an NHL record for most shutouts in a playoff round).

Unlike his time in Phoenix, Khabibulin could enjoy extended rest when needed due to the skill of his backup, John Grahame.

He was the first Russian goaltender to ever win the Stanley Cup, doing so with Tampa Bay in 2004; until 2020, he was also the only Russian goaltender to start in the Finals.

He is also a four-time NHL All-Star.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Khabibulin was one of many Russian players to return to their homeland.

From November 2004, he played for Ak Bars Kazan in Kazan.

As the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), Khabibulin became a free agent when play was set to resume.

Coming off his Stanley Cup win the previous NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks signed him to a four-year, $27 million deal, making him the highest paid goaltender in the League.

Injuries and inconsistent play, however, plagued him during his tenure in Chicago.

In his first season with the Blackhawks, he recorded a 3.35 goals against average (GAA) — the highest of his career since his rookie season in Winnipeg — and Chicago finished second-to-last in the Western Conference.

In July 2008, the Blackhawks signed goaltender Cristobal Huet, previously of the Washington Capitals.

The signing of Huet was thought to have effectively displaced Khabibulin as the starting goaltender, especially given he was put on waivers on September 29, 2008, but cleared.

In light of Huet and Khabibulin's combined salaries (Huet was signed to a contract averaging $5.6 million per season), it was speculated Khabibulin would be traded to provide cap space.

However, he spent the entire season with the team, playing in 42 games, and by the start of the 2009 playoffs, he had retrenched himself as starting goaltender.

Khabibulin and the Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks to progress to the Western Conference Finals against the Detroit Red Wings.

During the third game of the series, Khabibulin surrendered three goals in one period after shutting out the Red Wings in the previous period.

He was replaced by Huet for the third period due to a lower body injury.

Khabibulin missed the remaining three games of the series as a result of the injury.

On July 1, 2009, Khabibulin signed a four-year, $15 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers, replacing Dwayne Roloson as the Oilers' starting goaltender.

His Oilers debut on October 3 against the Calgary Flames was a blunder, however.

While trying to field a clearing pass in the final minute of the third period, he mishandled the puck and gave up the game-winning goal to Flames' right wing David Moss.

On January 13, 2010, it was announced that Khabibulin would have surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back.

He missed the remainder of the regular season.