Ruslan Viktorovych Fedotenko ( uk, Руслан Вікторович Федотенко; born 18 January 1979) is a Ukrainian 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 ...

winger. A two-time

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champion, in his

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 ...

(NHL) career he played for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. Internationally, Fedotenko has competed for

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Playing career

Start in the NHL

As a youth, Fedotenko played in the 1993

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a team from Ukraine. Fedotenko went undrafted and first entered the NHL after being signed by the

in 1999. He scored the overtime winning goal in Game 1 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals against the Ottawa Senators during the

2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League began on April 17, 2002. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on June 13, 2002, four games to one, to win their tenth championship in their hi ...

Tampa Bay Lightning and first Stanley Cup win

After two seasons with the Flyers, he was traded in 2002 to the

, along with two second round draft picks, in exchange for Tampa Bay's first round draft pick, which was used to draft

Joni Pitkänen Joni Pitkänen (born 19 September 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, and Carolina Hurricanes. Playing career Pitkänen starte ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Fedotenko won his first

, scoring both Lightning goals in Game 7 of the Finals against the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. It was Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup in franchise history. After a career-high 26-goal, 41-point campaign in 2005–06, Fedotenko was re-signed as a restricted free agent in July 2006 to a one-year contract worth $1.65 million.

New York Islanders

Following his fourth season in Tampa Bay, Fedotenko signed a one-year, $2.9 million contract with the

in July 2007, joining Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin as the Islanders' free agent acquisitions. He scored 33 points in his first and only season with the Islanders.

Pittsburgh Penguins and second Stanley Cup win

The following off-season, Fedotenko signed his third consecutive one-year contract, a $2.25 million deal with

in July 2008. Fedotenko neared career-high totals with 39 points in 65 games, benefiting as a winger on a talented Penguins team that featured centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and

Jordan Staal Jordan Staal (born September 10, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is regarded as a premier penalty-killer, both for his strong defensive skills and ...

. He went on to tally 14 points in 24 post-season games with the Penguins in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, capturing his second career Stanley Cup as Pittsburgh defeated the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

in seven games. After becoming an unrestricted free agent in July 2009, Fedotenko took a pay cut and agreed to a one-year, $1.8 million contract to remain with the Penguins.

New York Rangers

On 10 September 2010, Fedotenko accepted a try-out with the

. After an impressive preseason, the Rangers signed Fedotenko to a one-year $1 million deal on 4 October 2010. On 1 July 2011, Fedotenko re-signed with the

, accepting a one-year, $1.4 million contract.

Return to the Flyers

On 5 July 2012, Fedotenko returned to where his NHL career began and signed a one-year deal with the

for $1.75 million. During the

2012–13 NHL lockout The 2012–13 NHL lockout was a labor dispute between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) that began at 11:59 pm EDT on September 15, 2012. A tentative deal on a new collective barga ...

, Fedotenko played for the Kontinental Hockey League's HC Donbass. Following the

2012–13 NHL season The 2012–13 NHL season was the 96th season of operation (95th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on January 19, 2013 and ended on April 28, 2013, with the playoffs to follow until June. The season s ...

, Fedotenko signed a three-year, $9 million contract with Donbass.

Later career and retirement

On 20 January 2015, Fedotenko signed a professional try out contract with the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

. To end the 2014–15 season, Fedotenko registered 3 goals in 13 games with Iowa. On 1 July 2015, Fedotenko signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with Iowa's parent affiliate, the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. On 11 October 2016, Fedotenko announced his retirement from professional hockey. Fedotenko finished his career as a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, played in a total of 863 NHL games with five different NHL teams, scored 173 goals and registered 193 assists, totaling 366 points.

International play

Fedotenko has played internationally for the Ukrainian national ice hockey team, appearing in one game for his nation at the

in a 5–2 defeat of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Personal life

Fedotenko has a tattoo of 2 Stanley Cups on his shoulder. Fedotenko resides in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, with his wife Debbie and three stepsons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fedotenko, Ruslan 1979 births HC Donbass players Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Iowa Wild players Living people Melfort Mustangs players New York Islanders players New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players of Ukraine Sportspeople from Kyiv Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Pittsburgh Penguins players Sioux City Musketeers players Sokil Kyiv players Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning players Trenton Titans players Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ukrainian ice hockey left wingers Undrafted National Hockey League players