Alexander Mogilny

Position Right Wing ShootsLeft Nickname(s)Alexander the Great, Almo, Mogs, Alex Height
Weight6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
210 lb(95 kg/14 st 0 lb) NHLTeam
F. teams Retired
Buffalo Sabres
Vancouver Canucks
Toronto Maple Leafs
New Jersey Devils Nationality Russia Born February 18, 1969(1969-02-18) (age 39),
Khabarovsk, USSR NHL Draft89th overall, 1988
Buffalo SabresPro career 1988 – 2006

Alexander Gennadevitch Mogilny (Russian: Александр Геннадиевич Могильный, Aleksandr Gennadijevič Mogil'nyj) born on February 18, 1969, in Khabarovsk, USSR (now Russia) is a retired professional ice hockey player.

Mogilny was best known for his lightning quick speed and lethal wrist shot in his early years which led to his career year of 76 goals in the 1992–93 NHL season season. As his career progressed he grew to become a selfless player and was not only known for his speed and shooting but also his vision, passing and skilled stick handling ability.

His most common nickname was "Alexander the Great" (coined by Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret) but he has sinced passed that down to Russian Phenom Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin later said in an interview how he was honored to be receiving the nickname of one of his boyhood heroes.

His contract expired with the New Jersey Devils at the end of the 2006–07 NHL season with Mogilny not playing in a single game all season due to injury.

1 Playing career
2 Awards
3 Career statistics
4 International Play
5 See also
6 External links

Playing career

In the Soviet Union, he played on a line with center Sergei Fedorov and winger Pavel Bure, a lethal combination that is best remembered as one of the most productive lines in hockey history, as all three posted spectacular numbers with their combination of speed and puck-handling skills. He represented the Soviet Union in 1988 and 1989 at the World Junior Championships, winning the Best Forward award in 1988. Mogilny also played for the senior Soviet Team that won the Gold Medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics. After the medal ceremony of 1989 World championships, he left the Soviet team and defected to North America with the help of representatives of the Buffalo Sabres, 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.

In the NHL, he played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and the New Jersey Devils (winning the Stanley Cup in 2000). He signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2001, and quickly became one of their top players. In the process, he became the only person to dethrone Leafs captain Mats Sundin as the team's leading scorer since his Leafs debut, beating him by 7 points in 2002–03. 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.

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 has been assigned to the Albany River Rats, the Devils minor league affiliate at the time, in order to make salary cap room for Patrik Elias' return. His 473 career NHL goals are the most ever for a player entering the AHL. He currently is on long term injured reserve due to a hip injury.

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. The following season he would become only the second non-North American player to captain an NHL team (after Lars-Erik Sjöberg of the Winnipeg Jets) when he was named the captain of the Sabres after the injury to Pat LaFontaine. He had been the leading scorer on his team for several seasons.

Alexander Mogilny was the second European to lead the league in goals scored (along with Teemu Selänne from Finland), first European to be named a Captain of an NHL team (Sabres), first Russian to be named to the NHL all-star team, and is (as of the end of the 2005–06 season) the second all-time Russian scorer in the NHL. Mogilny should have also been the first Russian player to scored 1000 points in the NHL but several injuries have delayed him from reaching that goal until finally fellow Russian star Sergei Fedorov reached the mark just a few games before Mogilny. Fedorov later said in an interview saying "I really have to share this honor with Alexander Mogilny. I knew he would've reached the mark much earlier than I did if it wasn't for his injuries."[citation needed]

Awards

World Junior Championship (Best Forward) - 1988
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - 2003
World Cup of Hockey Teams - 1996, 2004
NHL Second All-Star Team - 1993, 1996
Stanley Cup - 2000
Olympic Gold Medal - 1988
NHL All-Star Game(s) - 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001
Member of Triple Gold Club

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 CSKA Moscow USSR28 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 NHL65 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 Rus1 0 1 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- 1994–95 Buffalo Sabres NHL 44 19 28 47 36 5 3 2 5 2 1995–96 Vancouver CanucksNHL 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 DevilsNHL 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 LeafsNHL 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 AHL19 4 10 14 17 NHL Totals 990 473 559 1032 432 124 39 47 86 58

International Play

Olympic medal record Men's ice hockeyGold 1988 Calgary Team

Played for the Soviet Union in:

1988 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
1988 World Junior Championships (silver medal)
1989 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
1989 World Championships (gold medal)

Played for Russia in:

1996 World Cup of Hockey

External links

Alexander Mogilny's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by
Pat LaFontaine Buffalo Sabres captains
1993–94Succeeded 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 Selänne)

Succeeded by
Pavel BurePreceded by
Ron FrancisWinner of the Lady Byng Trophy
2003Succeeded by
Brad Richards