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 (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 and Nikolay Zherdev are of a select few to have been named to the annual

All Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or di ...

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, 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

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 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 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); 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 Mikhail Vyacheslavovich Anisin (born March 1, 1988) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with SC Csíkszereda in the Erste Liga. Playing career On 20 October 2013, Anisin was acquired by HC Donbass from HC N ...

* Alexander Eremenko *

Shaun Heshka Shaun Heshka (born July 30, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, who currently plays for Rauman Lukko of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Heshka played his junior years for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey Lea ...

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 Vitaly Serhiiovych Anikeyenko (2 January 1987 – 7 September 2011) was a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey player. Life Born in Kyiv, Anikeyenko spent the entirety of his professional hockey career with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontin ...

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 Oleksandr Yevhenovych "Alexander" Vyukhin ( ua, Олександр Євгенович Вьюхін; January 9, 1973 – September 7, 2011) was a Ukrainian and Russian professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of th ...

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

* Kontinental Hockey League