List of Ukrainians in the Kontinental Hockey League

The following is a list of Ukrainians in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). For the 2014-15 season, Ukrainians constitute the 14th most numerous nationality within the league. During the 2009-10 KHL season, 26^[a] Ukrainian players participated in the competition, the most to date, out of the 41 total to have played. Alexei Zhitnik, along with Anton Babchuk and Nikolay Zherdev are of a select few to have been named to the annual All Star Game.

Oleg Tverdovsky became the first Ukrainian-born player to win the Gagarin Cup, doing so with HC Salavat Yulaev in 2010. In 2013, Kostiantyn Kasianchuk became the first Ukrainian national team player to do the same; after which the Cup was brought to Kiev in celebration.^[1] According to Sokil Kyiv general manager Vyacheslav Zavalniuk, 13.5% of all players in the KHL have Ukrainian roots.^[2]

Players

Anton Babchuk playing for HC Donbass in 2012

Vitaly Vishnevsky has played the most games of any Ukrainian in the KHL

Nikolay Zherdev playing for Atlant

Alexei Mikhnov playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2012

NAT	Name	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	Birthplace	Team	Ref.
	Andrushenko, ViktorViktor Andrushenko	F	59	3	11	14	Kiev	(Belarus)	[3]
	Anikeyenko, VitaliVitali Anikeyenko[☦]	D	144	14	35	49	Kiev	-	[4]
	Babchuk, AntonAnton Babchuk ★	D	80	10	15	25	Kiev	Salavat Yulaev	[5]
	Bayev, DenisDenis Bayev	D	156	9	15	24	Konotop	(VHL)	[6]
	Belukhin, YevgeniYevgeni Belukhin	F	0	0	0	0	Arzamas-16	Donbass	[7][8]
	Berezin, DmytriyDmytriy Berezin	G	1	-	-	-	Novosibirsk	Unsigned	[9]
	Blahoi, RomanRoman Blahoi	F	0	0	0	0	Kiev	Donbass	[10]
	But, AntonAnton But	LW	249	66	82	148	Kharkiv	Unsigned	[11]
	Denisov, DenisDenis Denisov	D	250	32	63	95	Kharkiv	CSKA	[b][12]
	Donika, VitaliVitali Donika	C	15	0	1	1	Kiev	(VHL)	[13]
	Fedotenko, RuslanRuslan Fedotenko	LW	33	8	10	18	Kiev	Donbass	[14]
	Haiduchenko, SerhiySerhiy Haiduchenko	G	78	-	-	-	Kiev	Donbass	[15]
	Kasianchuk, KostiantynKostiantyn Kasianchuk	F	170	29	35	64	Kiev	Dynamo	[16]
	Klymentiev, SerhiySerhiy Klymentiev	D	39	2	4	6	Kiev	-	[17]
	Komaristy, AlexanderAlexander Komaristy	C	176	19	37	56	Severodonetsk	Neftekhimik	[18]
	Kvitchenko, MaximMaxim Kvitchenko	F	25	0	1	1	Kiev	Donbass	[19]
	Liutkevych, VitaliyVitaliy Liutkevych	D	20	0	1	1	Kiev	(VHL)	[20]
	Materukhin, OleksandrOleksandr Materukhin	LW	7	0	0	0	Kiev	Dinamo-Minsk	[21]
	Mikhnov, AlexeiAlexei Mikhnov	LW	200	45	61	106	Kiev	Atlant	[22]
	Mikhnov, AndriyAndriy Mikhnov	LW	109	10	12	22	Kiev	(Belarus)	[23]
	Morozov, YegorYegor Morozov	F	0	0	0	0	[✪]Tolyatti	Donbass	[24]
	Ostroushko, ArtemArtem Ostroushko	D	51	5	8	13	Kiev	-	[25]
	Petrukhno, DenisDenis Petrukhno	D	0	0	0	0	Kiev	Donbass	[26]
	Polischuk, FedorFedor Polischuk	LW	221	20	48	68	Kolodyste	Barys	[27]
	Ponikarovsky, AlexeiAlexei Ponikarovsky	LW	32	5	13	18	Kiev	SKA	[28]
	Razin, GennadyGennady Razin	D	237	9	29	38	Kharkiv	Donbass	[29]
	Sergeyev, AndreiAndrei Sergeyev	D	104	4	9	13	Simferopol	Spartak	[30]
	Shafarenko, OlehOleh Shafarenko	F	21	2	4	6	Kiev	(Belarus)	[31]
	Shakhraichuk, VadymVadym Shakhraichuk	C	103	15	12	17	Kiev	Unsigned	[32]
	Shalimov, VladislavVladislav Shalimov	RW	3	0	0	0	Belovo	Donbass	[33][34]
	Shastin, EgorEgor Shastin	F	141	34	42	76	Kiev	(Swiss)	[35]
	Shevchuk, MykhailoMykhailo Shevchuk	G	0	-	-	-	Kharkiv	Donbass	[36]
	Shvidki, DenisDenis Shvidki	RW	37	3	4	7	Kharkiv	(MOL Liga)	[37]
	Shvidenko, DmytroDmytro Shvidenko	D	0	0	0	0	Lubny	Ugra	[38]
	Silnitsky, YuriYuri Silnitsky	D	16	0	0	0	Tyumen	Donbass	[39][40]
	Simchuk, KostiantynKostiantyn Simchuk	G	13	-	-	-	Kiev	-	[41]
	Sobchenko, DaniilDaniil Sobchenko[☦]	C	51	6	2	8	Kiev	-	[42]
	Strakhov, AlexeiAlexei Strakhov	RW	25	3	3	6	Kharkiv	-	[43]
	Tkachev, VolodymyrVolodymyr Tkachev	D	5	0	0	0	Dnipropetrovsk	Ak Bars	[44]
	Toryanik, OleksandrOleksandr Toryanik	RW	0	0	0	0	Kharkiv	Donbass	[45]
	Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	191	29	51	80	Donetsk	-	[46]
	Varlamov, SerhiySerhiy Varlamov	LW	133	24	26	50	Kiev	Donbass	[47]
	Vishnevsky, VitalyVitaly Vishnevsky	D	263	25	44	69	Kharkiv	Lokomotiv	[48]
	Vyukhin, AlexanderAlexander Vyukhin[☦]	G	87	-	-	-	Sverdlovsk	-	[49]
	Zakharov, ViktorViktor Zakharov	F	0	0	0	0	Kiev	Donbass	[50]
	Zemchenko, IgnatIgnat Zemchenko	C	80	9	7	16	Kiev	Severstal	[51]
	Zherdev, NikolayNikolay Zherdev ★	RW	155	44	78	122	Kiev	Severstal	[52]
	Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik ★	D	112	4	14	18	Kiev	-	[53]

Note: A (★) denotes a player who has participated in an All Star Game
All statistics accurate to the end of the 2012–13 KHL season

Breakdown of players by nationality

Captains

Several players have acted as captains of their respective KHL clubs, including: Alexei Zhitnik (Dynamo Moscow); Vitaly Vishnevsky (SKA); Serhiy Varlamov, Ruslan Fedotenko,^[54] (HC Donbass); and Nikolay Zherdev (Atlant)

Players of Ukrainian descent

The following is a list of KHL players who while not born in Ukraine, are of documented Ukrainian descent.

• Mikhail Anisin^[55]
• Alexander Eremenko^[56]
• Shaun Heshka^[57]
• Andrei Nikolishin^[58]

Notes

• ^a Figure includes both Ukrainian-born and Ukrainian national players.
• ^b Denis Denisov was born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR to a military family who relocated to Tver prior to Ukraine's independence. As a result, he never was a Ukrainian citizen.^[59]
• ^c Yuri Silnitsky and Vladislav Shalimov played in the 2012-13 season, but did not gain Ukrainian citizenship until the following year.^[60]
• Indicates a player who was born in Russia and became a naturalized Ukrainian citizen
• ^☦ Vitaly Anikeyenko, Daniil Sobchenko, and Alexander Vyukhin were killed in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster prior to the opening game of the 2011–12 KHL season.

References