Valentin Morozov (russian: Валентин Морозов; born June 1, 1975) 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 ...

player who spent the majority of his career in the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Playing career

NHL Draft

Valentin Morozov was drafted in the sixth round, 154th overall, by the

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 ...

in the

1994 NHL Entry Draft The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was the 32nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28–29, 1994. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Patrik Elias and Eric Boulton, who both played their last NHL g ...

. After being drafted, he remained 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 played four seasons with CSKA Moscov. After the 1996-97 season, Morozov left CSKA Moscow and signed with Krylia Sovetov.

AHL career

In the summer of 1998, Morozov would receive a training camp invite to skate with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Morozov was one of the final cuts of the Penguins training camp. On September 27, Morozov was assigned to the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

. As a member of the Crunch, Morozov wore jersey #15. Despite finishing the season with 17 goals and 40 points in 63 games, Morozov also finished with a plus/minus of -40, which was the lowest mark among all Crunch playersHockeydb.com: 1998-99 Syracuse Crunch Statistics
/ref> Morozov was invited back to Pittsburgh Penguins training camp in the summer of 1999. After several weeks of training, Morozov was reassigned again to the Penguins' new AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Morozov would change from his previous number 15 to 21. In 59 games with the W-B/S Penguins, Morozov scored 39 points, which was the fourth highest among Penguins forwards that season. After two seasons in North America, Morozov decided to return to Russia to continue his professional hockey career.

Russian Super League

Morozov returned to Russia for the 2000-01 season with Lada Togliatti, where he scored four points in nineteen games.

Russian Supreme League (Pervaya Liga)

In 2001-02, Morozov split time between the Russian Super League and the

Pervaya Liga The All-Russian Hockey League B or VHL-B (russian: Первенство Всероссийской хоккейной лиги (ВХЛ-Б), ''Pervenstvo Vserossiyskoy hokkeynoy ligi'') is an ice hockey league in Russia. It stands at the third-ti ...

, a 2nd tier feeder league for the Russian Super League. He returned to the Central Red Army team. He played 18 games, scoring 4 goals and 4 assists. Morozov also played one game with Ufa Salavat Yulayev, also of the Russian Super League. While assigned to Pervaya Liga, Morozov split time between Severstal-2 Cherepovets and the Pervaya Liga's Central Red Army team.

Russian Major League (Vysshaya Liga)

Morozov spent the 2002-03 season with

Khimik Voskresensk Hockey Club Atlant Moscow Oblast (russian: ХК Атлант Московская область, en, Atlas Hockey Club Moscow Region) was a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast. They were members of the Bobro ...

, a Vysshaya Liga team that was considered to be "Class-A 2nd division" to the Russian Super League. Morozov would have one of his best statistical seasons as a member of Khimik, scoring 20 points in 24 games. Morozov would spend his final season splitting time between Krylia Sovetov's team in Vysshaya Liga and their team with Pervaya Liga.

Personal

Valentin Morozov is the oldest brother of Ak Bars Kazan forward

Aleksey Morozov Alexei Alekseyevich Morozov (russian: Алексей Алексе́евич Морозов; born 16 February 1977) is the president of the Kontinental Hockey League and a Russian former professional ice hockey player. He played professional ho ...

. Aleksey, like Valentin, was also drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins; Valentin was drafted in the 6th round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, and Aleksey was drafted the following year (1st round, 24th overall) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morozov, Valentin 1975 births HC CSKA Moscow players HC Khimik Voskresensk players Krylya Sovetov Moscow players HC Lada Togliatti players Living people Ice hockey people from Moscow Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Russian ice hockey right wingers Salavat Yulaev Ufa players Soviet Wings players Syracuse Crunch players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players