Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny
Born	(1969-02-18) February 18, 1969 Khabarovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	USSR CSKA Moscow NHL Buffalo Sabres Vancouver Canucks New Jersey Devils Toronto Maple Leafs New Jersey Devils
National team	Russia  Soviet Union
NHL Draft	89th overall, 1988 Buffalo Sabres
Playing career	1986–2006

Alexander Gennadevitch Mogilny (Russian: Александр Геннадиевич Могильный; born February 18, 1969) is a former Russian professional ice hockey player, currently the general manager of Admiral Vladivostok of the Kontinental Hockey League.

In the National Hockey League, Mogilny played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New Jersey Devils. He tied for the led the NHL in goals in 1992-93 with 76, and became a member of the Triple Gold Club by winning the Stanley Cup in 2000 with New Jersey.

Playing career

In the Soviet Union, Mogilny played on a line with center Sergei Fedorov and winger Pavel Bure. He represented the Soviet Union in 1988 and 1989 at the World Junior Championships, winning the Best Forward award in 1988. Mogilny was also part of the 1987 junior squad that competed in the World Championships known as the "Punch Up at Piestany" after both the Canadian and Russian juniors were disqualified after a bench clearing brawl in the gold medal match. Mogilny played for the senior Soviet Team that won a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics. After the medal ceremony of the 1989 World Championships, he left the Soviet team and defected to North America with the help of representatives of the Buffalo Sabres,^{[citation needed]} the NHL club that had drafted him, 89th overall, a year earlier in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Mogilny chose the number 89 in recognition of both the year he defected and his place in the draft, wearing #89 for his entire playing career.

Mogilny tied Teemu Selänne for the most goals scored in the 1992–93 NHL season, scoring 76 goals in 77 games. In that same season he scored his 50th goal in his 46th game; however, it does not count as an official 50 goals in 50 games because his 50th goal came in his team's 53rd game.^{[citation needed]}

Toronto Maple Leafs

During the 2001 offseason, Mogilny signed a 4 year, $22 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3, 2001, and quickly became one of their top players. Despite nursing a knee injury and missing 16 games of the season, Mogilny was able to score 24 goals and 57 points to place him 2nd in team scoring. He would elevate his play during the post-season of the same year. During the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, with former team captain Mats Sundin injured for much of the playoffs, Mogilny stepped up his game and was instrumental in the team's run to the conference finals, scoring 8 goals, including 2 goals in each of the game 7s versus the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators. The Leafs however, would fall in 6 games in the conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Mogilny emerged as the Leafs top scorer in the 2002–2003 NHL season, becoming the only player to dethrone Leafs captain Mats Sundin as the team's leading scorer since his Leafs debut, beating him by 7 points in 2002–03 and finishing in the top-15 in league scoring with 79 points. In game 1 of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Mogilny recorded his first career playoff hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers. He finished the year winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. In the 2003–04 season, he injured his hip and had to have major surgery and missed most of the season, but returned late to helped the Leafs finish with their best record in franchise history. On March 15, 2004, versus the Buffalo Sabres, Mogilny became the second Russian player in NHL history to ever to score 1000 career points in the NHL when he assisted on the game-tying goal by Gary Roberts. The Leafs would complete the comeback, after trailing 5–2 in the third period, and win 6–5 in overtime when Mogilny set up Tomas Kaberle for the game-winning goal.

After Toronto

After recovering over the lockout cancelled 2004–05 season, he re-signed with New Jersey in August 2005, agreeing to US$7 million for two years. Mogilny was placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils, and was assigned to the Albany River Rats, the Devils minor league affiliate at the time, in order to make salary cap room for Patrik Eliáš' return. His 473 career NHL goals at the time were the most ever for a player entering the AHL. Mogilny played 19 games for the River Rats, and retired at the end of the season.

Alexander Mogilny was the first Russian player to defect from the Soviet Union in May 1989, first non-North American to lead the league in goals scored (along with Teemu Selänne from Finland), first Russian to be named to the NHL All-Star Team, first Russian to be named captain of an NHL team, and is (as of the end of the 2008–09 season) the second all-time Russian scorer in the NHL. Mogilny was the second Russian player to score 1000 points in the NHL, reaching the milestone just a few days after former linemate Sergei Fedorov.

International Play

At the 1988 Winter Olympics, Mogilny made his senior debut with the Soviet national team as a 18-year-old in Canada. He played with the full roster Soviet Union team that won the gold medal.

In the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Team Russia had played five preliminary games in order to set the groupings for the main tournament stage. Russia was the only team that went undefeated (winning against U.S.A (Detroit), Sweden (Stockholm), Finland (Moscow), Germany (Landshut) and tied against Team Canada (Calgary). The U.S.A, Sweden and Finland games saw the pairing line of "Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny", for the first and only time internationally on the senior level, and was considered "perhaps the best forward line on earth" at the time. Mogilny and Fedorov played on the same line and both led the team in scoring, but they lost in the semi-finals against U.S.A, after defeating Finland 5-0 in the quarterfinals.

Awards and achievements

"Alex, I think, was the strongest. He has the most agility, the quickest release and the best shot...the leader of our line"

—Sergei Fedorov, who played on a line with Mogilny and Pavel Bure internationally.

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Gold	1988 Calgary	Ice hockey
World Championship
Gold	1989 Sweden	Ice hockey
World Junior Championship
Silver	1988 Soviet Union	Ice hockey
Gold	1989 USA	Ice hockey

• NHL All-Star Game(s) – 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003 (Injured)
• NHL Second All-Star Team – 1993, 1996
• NHL Stanley Cup Champion – 2000 with the New Jersey Devils
• 1992–93 NHL Season – Goal Scoring Leader (76) (*tied) (since 1999, this distinction has been awarded the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy)
• 2002–03 NHL Season – Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
• (NHL) 1992–93 Season - Game-Winning Goals (11) (1st)
• Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame (Inducted on January 1, 2011)

Career statistics

_{Bolded numbers indicate season/ playoff leader}

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1986–87	CSKA Moscow	USSR		28	15	1	16	4		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	CSKA Moscow	USSR		39	12	8	20	14		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	CSKA Moscow	USSR		31	11	11	22	24		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		65	15	28	43	16		4	0	1	1	2
1990–91	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		62	30	34	64	16		6	0	6	6	2
1991–92	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		67	39	45	84	73		2	0	2	2	0
1992–93	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		77	76	51	127	40		7	7	3	10	6
1993–94	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		66	32	47	79	22		7	4	2	6	6
1994–95	Spartak Moscow	IHL		1	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		44	19	28	47	36		5	3	2	5	2
1995–96	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		79	55	52	107	16		6	1	8	9	8
1996–97	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		76	31	42	73	18		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		51	18	27	45	36		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		59	14	31	45	58		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		47	21	17	38	16		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	New Jersey Devils	NHL		12	3	3	6	4		23	4	3	7	4
2000–01	New Jersey Devils	NHL		75	43	40	83	43		25	5	11	16	8
2001–02	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		66	24	33	57	8		20	8	3	11	8
2002–03	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		73	33	46	79	12		6	5	2	7	4
2003–04	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		37	8	22	30	12		13	2	4	6	8
2005–06	New Jersey Devils	NHL		34	12	13	25	6		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Albany River Rats	AHL		19	4	10	14	17		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				990	473	559	1032	432		124	39	47	86	58

International play

Played for the Soviet Union in:

• 1988 Winter Olympics (Gold Medal)
• 1988 World Junior Hockey Championships (Silver Medal)
• 1989 World Junior Hockey Championships (Gold Medal)
• 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships (Gold Medal)

Played for Russia in:

• 1996 World Cup of Hockey

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	Place		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1987	Soviet Union	WJC	DSQ		6	3	2	5	4
1988	Soviet Union	WJC	2 !		7	9	9	18	2
1988	Soviet Union	Oly	1 !		6	3	2	5	2
1989	Soviet Union	WJC	1 !		7	7	5	12	4
1989	Soviet Union	WC	1 !		10	0	3	3	2
1996	Russia	WCH	SF		5	2	4	6	0
Junior Int'l Totals					20	19	16	35	10
Senior Int'l Totals					21	5	9	14	4

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 100 point seasons
• List of Eastern Bloc defectors

External links

• Alexander Mogilny's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Alexander Mogilny's player profile at NHL.com
• Alexander Mogilny – player profile and career stats at European Hockey.Net

Preceded by Pat LaFontaine

Buffalo Sabres captain 1993–94

Succeeded by Pat LaFontaine

note: Mogilny served as captain, during most of the 1993–94 season, while Pat LaFontaine was injured & out of the line-up

Preceded by Brett Hull	NHL Goal Leader 1993 (tied with Teemu Selanne)	Succeeded by Pavel Bure
Preceded by Ron Francis	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 2003	Succeeded by Brad Richards