Alexander Vladimirovich Riazantsev (russian: Александр Владимирович Рязанцев) (born March 15, 1980) is a Russian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He played several seasons in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) before retiring in 2015. He also played several years in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

, after being selected by the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

, though did not play in the NHL. Internationally Riazantsev played for the Russian national team at the 2005 World Championship, winning a bronze medal.

Playing career

Originally drafted by the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, Riazantsev spent parts of five seasons playing for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

of the

before returning to Russia in 2003, where he played until his retirement. In January 2012, Riazantsev took a shot in a skills competition that measured a speed of 114.1 miles per hour. It is considered by KHL officials to be the hardest shot ever recorded. The

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

does not recognize this feat, as the puck travels a shorter distance to the goal net in KHL competitions than in those of the NHL. On May 5, 2012, Riazantsev joined his seventh club in just five seasons, signing a two-year contract as a free agent with the

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey team based in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel ...

starting from the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. During the season, Riazantsev scored 9 goals from the Blueline and contributed with 20 points. On June 11, 2013, Riazantsev was traded by Severstal to return to his original club, Spartak Moscow, in exchange for Nicholas Bushuev. On October 4, 2014, Riazantsev continued his journeyman career when he was traded after only 8 games in the 2014–15 season with

HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (russian: Нефтехимик Нижнекамск, en, Nizhnekamsk Petrochemist) is a professional ice hockey team based in Nizhnekamsk, in the Tatarstan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. They are members ...

to Amur Khabarovsk.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riazantsev, Alexander 1980 births Living people Amur Khabarovsk players Avangard Omsk players Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Colorado Avalanche draft picks HC Donbass players HC Dynamo Moscow players Hershey Bears players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Milwaukee Admirals players HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players Russian ice hockey defencemen Salavat Yulaev Ufa players Severstal Cherepovets players SKA Saint Petersburg players HC Spartak Moscow players Traktor Chelyabinsk players Victoriaville Tigres players HC Vityaz players