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Sergei Kostitsyn

Sergei Olegovich Kostitsyn (Belarusian language|Belarusian: Сяргей Касьціцын, ''Siarhiej Kascicyn''; born March 20, 1987) is a Belarusian professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey)|winger currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). His older brother Andrei Kostitsyn|Andrei also plays for the Canadiens.

Playing career

Junior hockey

Like his older brother, Sergei excelled in the Belarusian junior hockey program. Sergei played for HK Gomel in Belarus in 2004–05 (14 points in 40 games) and was drafted in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s London Knights. Sergei was also drafted in the seventh round, 200th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Montréal Canadiens, the team that also had drafted Andrei in the first round (10th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Kostitsyn moved to North America in 2005–06 OHL season|2005–06 to play with the Knights and recorded 26 goals, 52 assists and 78 points, leading all OHL rookies in scoring during the 2005–06 OHL season|2005–06 season. The 19-year-old was the second runner-up for the Emms Family Award, as OHL Rookie of the Year, behind Logan Couture of the Ottawa 67's and 15-year-old winner John Tavares (ice hockey)|John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals. Sergei was instrumental in the London Knights' 2006 playoff run, which saw them lose to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL final. In his first ever OHL playoff game against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Sergei had six points, a goal and five assists, in a 6–1 London win. In the semi-finals, Kostitsyn scored the series-clinching goal against the Guelph Storm, a powerplay (hockey)|power-play goal in the first overtime (ice hockey)|overtime of game five. In addition to being named team rookie of the year, the Knights named him the playoff performer of the year, finishing the post-season with 37 points in 19 games. Joining the Montreal Canadiens' 2006–07 NHL season|2006–07 training camp, Kostitsyn was returned to London for a second OHL season. He was placed on a line with young superstars Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner and was named an alternate captain (hockey)|alternate captain. Kostitsyn finished third in OHL and CHL scoring behind teammate Patrick Kane and Oshawa's John Tavares, tallying 40 goals and 131 points in only 59 games. His 91 assists led the CHL and broke the London Knights franchise record of 89 set in 1972–73 by Dennis Ververgaert.

Montreal Canadiens

On May 1, 2007, Kostitsyn was signed to an amateur tryout contract with the Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, to assist the team in its Calder Cup-winning playoff run. However, after not being inserted in the lineup, he returned home to Belarus to see his family. On May 26, Kostitsyn signed with the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-year, entry-level contract. Kostitsyn began the 2007–08 NHL season|2007–08 season with the Bulldogs. On December 12, 2007, while leading the Bulldogs in scoring, Kostitsyn was called up by the Montreal Canadiens. He played his first career National Hockey League|NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 13 and played on the top-line with captain (ice hockey)|captain Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins. Sergei recorded his first career NHL point, an assist, in the next game, a 4–1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 15. Five days later, in his fourth game on December 20, Sergei scored his first career NHL goal, a power-play marker in a 5–2 win against the Washington Capitals. He finished his rookie season with 27 points in 51 games and added eight points in 12 playoff games. The following season, Kostitsyn was reassigned to Hamilton on February 19, 2009. After earning 14 points in 16 games while in the AHL, he was called back up a little over a month later on March 22. Prior to the 2009–10 season, Kostitsyn was cut from the lineup and assigned to Hamilton. On September 30, he announced that he would not report to Hamilton and even asked to be traded. He was then suspended by the team. A few days later, Kostitsyn agreed to report to the Bulldogs in time for the start of the 2009–10 AHL season|2009–10 season.http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=293943 After four points in the first five games of the season, however, he left the team on October 21 and was consequently suspended a second time by the Canadiens. He finally decided to report once again to the Hamilton Bulldogs and after recording 13 points in 16 games with the Bulldogs, he was recalled by the Canadiens.http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/284647.html

International play

As a junior hockey|junior, Kostitsyn has participated in four World Under-17 tournaments, three IIHF World U18 Championships|World Junior Under-18 Championships, and two World Junior Ice Hockey Championship|World Junior Championships, one of which was with his brother Andrei. In the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|2006 World Junior Championships, he was named tournament MVP of the B-pool, leading Belarus to a promotion to the top-tier. Playing in pool-A in 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|2007, he scored a goal and two assists in the first game of the tournament, a 4-2 upset victory against Finland. He finished the tournament with 5 points in 6 games. After his rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens, Kostitsyn competed in the 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships|2008 World Championships with Belarus national men's ice hockey team|Belarus. He played in four games, recording one assist. On December 23, 2009, Kostitsyn was selected along with his older brother Andrei, Mikhail Grabovski and Ruslan Salei as the only four current NHL players to represent Belarus in the 2010 Olympics.

Awards

- Named World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|World Junior Championships Pool-B MVP in 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|2006.
- Named to the Ontario Hockey League|OHL First All-Rookie Team in 2005–06 OHL season|2006.
- Named the London Knights' top playoff performer in 2006.
- Named the London Knights' rookie of the year in 2006.

Records

- London Knights single-season assists record - 91 in 2005–06 OHL season|2005–06

Off the ice

In February 2009, La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse reported that Sergei, along with his brother Andrei and defenceman Roman Hamrlík, had links with Pasquale Mangiola, a member of an organized crime group, who was arrested as part of "Operation Axe" during the month and charged with firearms and drugs offense. According to ESPN, the NHL will send security officials to investigate the links between the players and Mangiola, though La Presse also reported that the three players were not involved in any criminal activities and no investigation against them is planned.