Yuri Ivanovich Babenko (russian: Юрий Иванович Бабенко; born 2 January 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He most notably played for

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 ...

of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and briefly with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Babenko was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

in the 2nd round, 51st overall. After a season in the Ontario Hockey League for the Plymouth Whalers, Babenko joined the Avalanche organization in 1998. After three seasons in the American Hockey League for the Hershey Bears, he finally made his

NHL 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 ...

debut for Colorado during the

2000–01 NHL season The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, 30 teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanc ...

, playing 3 games in all without registering a point. Babenko spent another year with Hershey before returning to Russia with

. He has also played for Khimik Voskresensk, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and

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 ...

. On June 28, 2009, Babenko returned on a one-year contract to former club HC MVD for the 2009–10 season. After scoring 10 point in 35 games and helping MVD advance to the finals, Babenko followed MVD into the merger with Dynamo Moscow, to sign with

UHC Dynamo HC Dynamo Moscow () is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. Dynamo has won the Gagarin Cup twice, in 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons, and have won the ...

for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season on May 29, 2010.

Coaching career

Following his professional playing career, Babenko moved into the coaching ranks, remaining with Dynamo Moscow as an assistant coach for two seasons. He later served as the head coach of HC Vityaz of the KHL for the 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1978 births Colorado Avalanche draft picks Colorado Avalanche players HC Dynamo Moscow players HC Khimik Voskresensk players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players HC MVD players Hershey Bears players Krylya Sovetov Moscow players Living people Sportspeople from Penza Plymouth Whalers players Russian ice hockey centres SKA Saint Petersburg players {{Russia-icehockey-centre-stub