Vitaly Viktorovich Vishnevskiy (russian: Виталий Викторович Вишневский, uk, Віталій Вікторович Вишневський; born March 18, 1980) 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He previously played in the

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 ...

for the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title *Th ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

, and

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

, as well as for

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (russian: ХК Локомотив, en, Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) ...

SKA St. Petersburg The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...

and

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey team based in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel ...

in the KHL.

Playing career

Vishnevsky began playing hockey in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

with his local organization Dynamo Kharkiv, but moved as a child to Russia and

Torpedo Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (russian: ХК Локомотив, en, Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) ...

. After playing 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 ...

for Torpedo Yaroslavl, Vishnevsky was drafted 5th overall by the

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

. He came to North America to start the 1999–2000 season playing for the Ducks affiliate the

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the American Hockey League, and played their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens. Throughout their existence they were the primary mi ...

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 ...

. He also made his NHL debut playing in 31 games for the Ducks. Vishnevsky established himself as a mainstay on the Duck defense, known for his punishing checks. In the 2002–03 season he helped the Ducks reach the

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 ...

finals. Playing in all their playoff games in their eventual defeat to the New Jersey Devils. Vitaly scored a career high 16 points (6 goals and 10 assists) in the

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

. Vishnevsky returned to Russia to play for

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 ...

during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. In the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Nation ...

, Vishnevsky continued to play for the Ducks where they made their way to the conference finals before losing to the Edmonton Oilers. On August 17, 2006 Vishnevsky was traded to the

for Karl Stewart and a 2nd round pick prior to the 2006–07 NHL season. Vitaly played in 52 games with the Thrashers before he was traded to the

for

Éric Bélanger Éric Bélanger (born December 16, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played the majority of his professional career as a centre in the National Hockey League (NHL), representing the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurrican ...

on February 10, 2007. Vishnevsky left the Predators at season's end and was signed as a free agent by the

to a three-year contract on July 10, 2007. After one season of play, with the Devils, he was waived on August 22, 2008.

KHL

After Vishnevsky cleared waivers, he decided to go play in the newly formed KHL with

on August 26, 2008. In his first season with Lokomotiv, the team made a run towards 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 ...

but ultimately fell to

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (russian: Ак Барс, tt-Cyrl, Ак Барс, en, Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey ...

in seven games. The following season, the team lost in the Conference Finals in seven games to HC MVD. After his contract expired, he signed with

SKA Saint Petersburg The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...

. He then returned to Lokomotiv for another 2 years After his contract expired once again, Vishnevskiy signed a professional tryout contract with the Anaheim Ducks, the team that had drafted him in 1998. Vishnevski was then released from his professional tryout after not appearing in a preseason game, thus making him a free agent. After a two-year hiatus, Vishnevskiy opted to attempt a comeback to professional hockey in agreeing to a try-out with the Severstal Cherepovets on June 30, 2017. After participating in pre-season, Vishnevskiy impressed to secure a one-year deal with Severstal for the 2017–18 season on August 21, 2017. At the conclusion of the 2017-18 KHL season, Vishnevskiy retired once more.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vishnevskiy, Vitaly 1980 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players HC Khimik Voskresensk players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Anaheim Ducks draft picks Mighty Ducks of Anaheim players Nashville Predators players National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils players Olympic ice hockey players for Russia Russian ice hockey defencemen Russian expatriates in the United States Severstal Cherepovets players SKA Saint Petersburg players Sportspeople from Kharkiv Ukrainian emigrants to Russia