Vladimir Malenkikh (born October 1, 1980) is a

Russian 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 ...

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 ...

who played most notably in 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). He was drafted 157th 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 fifth round of the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

Playing career

Malenkikh started his career with Lada Togliatti in 1999 and remained with the team until 2005. He spent the next six seasons with

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk (russian: Металлург Магнитогорск) is a professional ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They a ...

, staying with the team until the conclusion of the 2010-11 KHL season. Malenkikh signed with

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (russian: Торпедо Нижний Новгород) is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team's home arena is Trade ...

on May 12, 2011, joining the team with long-time friend Alexander Yevseyenkov. On June 6, 2018, Malenkikh ended his 20 year professional career, announcing his retirement however continuing his association with Lada Togliatti, remaining as an assistant coach for their MHL junior club.

Awards and accomplishments

*2007:

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

champion

References

External links

*
Vladimir Malenkikh's
player profile and career stats a
Russian Prospects
1980 births HC CSK VVS Samara players HC Lada Togliatti players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players Living people Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Russian ice hockey defencemen Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players Ice hockey people from Tolyatti {{Russia-icehockey-defenceman-stub