For the
2014–15 season,
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
constituted the 14th most numerous nationality within 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). During the
2009–10 KHL season, 26
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
players participated in the competition, the most to date, out of the 41 total to have played.
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 ...
, along with
Anton Babchuk
Anton Anatoliiovych Babchuk ( uk, Антон Анатолійович Бабчук, russian: Антон Анатольевич Бабчук; born May 6, 1984) is a Ukrainian-Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman He last played for At ...
and
Nikolay Zherdev
Mykola Olehovych "Nikolay" Zherdev ( uk, Микола Олегович Жердев; born November 5, 1984) is a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey right winger who is currently playing for the HC Merano of the Alps Hockey League.
He pr ...
are of a select few to have been named to the annual
All Star Game.
Oleg Tverdovsky
Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...
became the first Ukrainian-born player to win the
Gagarin Cup
The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...
, doing so with
HC Salavat Yulaev in 2010. In 2013,
Kostiantyn Kasianchuk
Kostiantyn Viktorovich Kasianchuk ( ua, Костянтин Вікторович Касянчук; born 24 October 1979) is a Ukrainian retired professional ice hockey left wing who last played for HK Neman Grodno of the Belarusian Extraleague. I ...
became the first Ukrainian national team player to do the same; after which the Cup was brought to
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
in celebration.
According to
Sokil Kyiv
Hockey Club Sokil Kyiv ( uk, ХК Сокіл Київ; en, Falcon Hockey Club), commonly known as Sokil Kyiv or HC Sokil, is a Ukrainian Professional Hockey League team based in Kyiv. While their home arena is located in the city, the team also ...
general manager
Vyacheslav Zavalnyuk, 13.5% of all players in the KHL have Ukrainian roots.
Players
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
The 2012–13 KHL season was the fifth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began on 4 September with the Lokomotiv Cup between last year's finalists Dynamo Moscow and Avangard Omsk. For the first time, the league consisted ...
Breakdown of players by nationality
Captains
Several players have acted as
captains
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of their respective KHL clubs, including: Alexei Zhitnik (
Dynamo Moscow
MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...
); Vitaly Vishnevsky (
SKA
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
); Serhiy Varlamov, Ruslan Fedotenko, (
HC Donbass
Hockey Club Donbass ( uk, Хокейний Клуб Донбас; russian: link=no, Хоккейный Клуб Донбасс, '' tr. Hokeinyi Klub Donbas'') is a Ukrainian professional ice hockey team based in Druzhkivka, currently playing in th ...
); and Nikolay Zherdev (
Atlant Atlant may refer to:
* Atlant (book), the first Slovene-language atlas
* Atlant-Soyuz Airlines, a Russian airline
* Atlant Moscow Oblast, a Russian professional ice hockey team
* The Myasishchev VM-T ''Atlant'', a Russian heavy transport aircraft
...
)
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
*
Alexander Eremenko
*
Shaun Heshka
*
Andrei Nikolishin
Andrei Vasilievich Nikolishin (russian: Андрей Васильевич Николишин; born March 25, 1973) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who last played for Sokil Kyiv of the Professional Hockey League of Ukraine. Over ...
Notes
* Figure includes both Ukrainian-born and
Ukrainian national players.
* Denis Denisov was born in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...]
to a military family who relocated to
Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population:
Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...
prior to Ukraine's independence. As a result, he never was a Ukrainian citizen.
* Yuri Silnitsky and Vladislav Shalimov played in the 2012–13 season, but did not gain Ukrainian citizenship until the following year.
* Indicates a player who was born in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and became a naturalized Ukrainian citizen
*
Vitaly Anikeyenko,
Daniil Sobchenko
Danylo Yevhenovych "Daniil" Sobchenko ( ua, Данило Євге́нович Собченко; 13 April 1991 – 7 September 2011) was a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey player. Born in Kyiv, Sobchenko spent the entirety of his pr ...
, and
Alexander Vyukhin were killed in the
2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
On 7 September 2011, YAK-Service Flight 9633, a Yakovlev Yak-42 air charter, charter flight operated by Yak-Service, YAK-Service carrying players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed on take-off nea ...
prior to the opening game of the
2011–12 KHL season
The 2011–12 KHL season was the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began with the Opening Cup game on 7 September 2011, but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, which occurred during the first perio ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukrainians In The Kontinental Hockey League
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
*
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 ...