Denis Gennadievich Tsygurov (russian: Денис Геннадьевич Цыгуров; February 26, 1971 – January 10, 2015) was a Russian 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 ...

player. Tsygurov was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

in the

1993 NHL Entry Draft The 1993 NHL Entry Draft was the 31st NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 26, 1993, at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec. First overall pick Alexandre Daigle is widely regarded today as one of the all-time greatest draft busts ...

following two seasons with

HC Lada Togliatti HC Lada Togliatti (russian: ХК Лада) is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Tolyatti, Russia. They play in the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). Due to a lack of a satisfactory arena, the KHL expelled the team. The team dropped one ...

of the

Russian Hockey Super League The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

. Tsygurov came to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

the following year and played in 24 games with the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...

of 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 ...

and four games for the Sabres during the 1993–94 season. He was the son of Gennady Tsygurov, who was an ice hockey defenceman and coach in Russia; elder brother also played at a high level. Tsygurov returned to the Sabres during the 1994–95 season for four games before being involved in a blockbuster six-player deal with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. Tsygurov was sent to the Kings along with future Hockey Hall of Famer

Grant Fuhr Grant Scott Fuhr (born September 28, 1962) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and former goaltending coach for the Arizona Coyotes, who is best remembered for a decade of stellar play for the Edmonton Oilers i ...

and defenceman

Philippe Boucher Philippe Boucher (born March 24, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League. He is currently the general manager of the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL. He also served as GM with ...

for defencemen

Alexei Zhitnik Oleksiy Mykolaiovych "Alexei" Zhitnik ( uk, Олексій Миколайович Житник, russian: Алексей Николаевич Житник; born October 10, 1972) is a Ukrainian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Zhitnik has ...

and Charlie Huddy and goaltender

Robb Stauber Robert Thomas Stauber (born November 25, 1967) is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He was the head coach of the United States women's national ice hockey team. He played the goaltender position at the University of Minnesota and pro ...

. Tsygurov went on to play in 39 games for the Kings over the next two seasons, amassing six points. Following the 1995–96 season, Tsygurov returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, where except for a brief stint with the

Long Beach Ice Dogs The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season. History The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Die ...

in 1997–98, he spent the last five years of his pro career. Tsygurov's European stops included HC Opava in the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The leag ...

, Kärpät in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

, CSK VVS Samara of the lower Russian league Vysshaya Liga, and

and

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 ...

of the

. On January 10, 2015, Tsygurov died at the age of 43.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1971 births Avangard Omsk players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players HC CSK VVS Samara players HC Karlovy Vary players HC Lada Togliatti players HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players Oulun Kärpät players 2015 deaths Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Los Angeles Kings players Sportspeople from Chelyabinsk Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Rochester Americans players Russian ice hockey defencemen Soviet ice hockey defencemen Traktor Chelyabinsk players Russian expatriate ice hockey people Russian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Russian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Russian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Expatriate ice hockey players in Finland {{Russia-icehockey-defenceman-stub