Sergei Gonchar

Sergei Viktorovich Gonchar (Серге́й Ви́кторович Гонча́р; born 13 April 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a Defensive Development Coach with the Vancouver Canucks.

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 appeared in 31 games total during the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season.

The following year, in his first full-length campaign in the NHL, Gonchar tallied 41 points, showing his potential as an effective offensive defenceman.

He continued with Portland in 1994–95 before making his NHL debut with the Capitals on 7 February 1995, against the Buffalo Sabres.

In the 1998–99 season, Gonchar became the first Russian defenceman to score over 20 goals in the regular season.

The following season, Gonchar broke the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.

He also finished in fifth place in Norris Trophy voting as the NHL's best defenceman.

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.

Between 2000 and 2004, Gonchar recorded more points than any other defenceman, with 74 goals and 241 points.

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.

Gonchar was also second among NHL defencemen in assists during that span with 372 assists, behind Lidström's 434.

He led the League in goals by a defenceman during that span, with 128.

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 amassed 58 points, leading all NHL defencemen.

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.

After the lockout, Gonchar signed a five-year, $25 million deal with the Penguins on 4 August 2005.

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.

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.

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.

While both Gonchar and defense partner Brooks Orpik claimed the hit was late, well after Gonchar had completed a pass, it was judged by Penguins' head coach Michel Therrien to be a clean hit and that Kočí had simply "finished his check".

He formerly served as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and 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 between 1995 and 2015.

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.

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 four of the conference semi-finals against the Washington Capitals, Gonchar suffered a serious knee injury with a knee on knee hit by Alexander Ovechkin.

Despite being initially expected to be out for several weeks and possibly the remainder of the playoffs, Gonchar returned for game seven of the series.

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).

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 set an NHL record on 2 March 2010, by scoring his 200th NHL goal, making him the first Russian defenceman to ever do so.

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).