Leo Komarov
| Leo Komarov | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Leo Komarov in 2012 | |||
| Born |
23 January 1987 Narva, Estonian SSR, URS | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 211 lb (96 kg; 15 st 1 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team Former teams |
Toronto Maple Leafs Ässät Pelicans Dynamo Moscow | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL Draft |
180th overall, 2006 Toronto Maple Leafs | ||
| Playing career | 2005–present | ||
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Leonid Aleksandrovitš Komarov (Russian: Леонид Александрович Комаров, Leonid Aleksandrovich Komarov; born 23 January 1987) is an Estonian-born Finnish–Russian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for and an alternate captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). A natural centre early in his career, Komarov has made the transition to being able to play all three forward positions.
Raised in Finland, Komarov is the first Estonian-born player in the NHL.[1] Komarov was a member of the gold medal-winning Finnish national team in the 2011 IIHF World Championship.
Personal
Komarov was born in Narva, then part of the Estonian SSR of the Soviet Union, to Russian parents.[2] When he was five years old, Komarov's family moved to the Swedish-speaking town of Nykarleby, Finland, when his father Alexander Komarov accepted a contract to play ice hockey there.[3][4] Because his father was an ethnic Ingrian Finnish,[5] the family was able to permanently reside there.[6] Leo Komarov also holds dual Russian-Finnish citizenship.[7]
Komarov is multi-lingual and can speak four languages: Swedish, Finnish, Russian and English.[8]
Playing career
After playing with different junior teams, Komarov started his career in the SM-liiga with Ässät. After winning a silver medal with Ässät in 2006, he moved to Pelicans. After his season with Ässät, he was chosen in the sixth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, 180th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Komarov captained of Finland at the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Leksand and Mora, Sweden.
During the 2009–10 season, Komarov played with Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Komarov won a gold medal with Finland at the 2011 IIHF World Championships in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia.
In May 2012, Komarov agreed to terms with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2012–13 season.[9] The reported value of his contract was $1.2 million, including bonuses.[10] He played his first career NHL game on 19 January 2013, and he scored his first NHL goal, a game winner, against the Montreal Canadiens on 9 February 2013.[11]
After one season with the Maple Leafs, Komarov left the NHL to sign a one-year contract to return with Dynamo Moscow in June 2013, with the ambition to make the Finnish 2014 Winter Olympic squad in a more offensive role with Dynamo; he made the roster, also serving as an assistant captain.
Despite signing with Dynamo Moscow, Komarov stated that he was not done with the NHL, and a year later, on 1 July 2014, he signed a four-year deal worth $2.9 million per season to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs.[12] Komarov played well following the signing, recording 4 goals and 16 assists in his first 23 games of the season, as well as 99 hits, good enough for third in the league as of late November.[13] However, a blindside hit from former Dynamo Moscow linemate Alexander Ovechkin on November 29th left Komarov with concussion issues, and he would score at a lackluster pace for the rest of the season.[13]
Komarov would rebound the next season and excel under new head coach Mike Babcock. Komarov, who previously played on Toronto's 2nd, 3rd lines and 4th lines, was now experiencing top line duties (taking Phil Kessel's spot), and occasionally reprising his role on the second. He led the Maple Leafs in goals and points up to the Christmas break. Shortly after, he was named to the 2016 NHL All-Star Game on 6 January, 2016, in reward for his strong play.[14] Komarov's production declined in the latter half of the season, partially due to the loss of teammate James van Riemsdyk in January. Despite this, Komarov finished the year third in team scoring with 36 points, behind only P. A. Parenteau and Nazem Kadri.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Hermes | Jr. C SM-sarja | 14 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Sport | Jr. B SM-sarja | 19 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Ässät | Jr. A SM-sarja | 34 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Ässät | Jr. A SM-sarja | 10 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Team Finland U20 | Mestis | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Ässät | SM-l | 44 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 106 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 22 | ||
| 2006–07 | Team Finland U20 | Mestis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Pelicans | SM-l | 49 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 108 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2007–08 | Pelicans | SM-l | 53 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 76 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Pelicans | SM-l | 56 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 144 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | ||
| 2009–10 | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | 47 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | ||
| 2010–11 | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | 52 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 70 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | 46 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 58 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 49 | ||
| 2012–13 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 14 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | 13 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 42 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 2013–14 | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | 52 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 22 | ||
| 2014–15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 67 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 171 | 31 | 40 | 71 | 40 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||||
| KHL totals | 210 | 44 | 66 | 110 | 256 | 37 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 89 | ||||
| Liiga totals | 202 | 18 | 38 | 56 | 434 | 36 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 52 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Finland | WJC |  |
7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 32 | |
| 2007 | Finland | WJC | 6th | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 16 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WC | 5th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2010 | Finland | WC | 6th | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC |  |
8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WC | 4th | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Finland | Oly | |
6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | Finland | WC |  |
10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 48 | ||||
| Senior totals | 46 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 | ||||
NHL All-Star Games
Komarov was a 2016 NHL All-Star. The 2016 game saw an overhaul, implementing a new tournament style system. Komarov was apart of Team Atlantic, which advanced to the finals of the 3 game tournament (3 total games with a maximum of 2 game played per team).
| Year | Location | GP | G | A | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Nashville | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| All-Star totals | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Awards and honours
- 2009 – First Channel Cup
- 2010 – Winner SHHI
- 2011 – IIHF World Champion
- 2011 – Medal "For military cooperation"
- 2011 – KHL All-Star Game participant
- 2012 – Gagarin Cup[3]
- First Estonian born NHL player[1]
- 2016 – NHL All-Star
References
- 1 2 Johnston, Chris. "Johnston on Leafs: Holzer making most of chance". Sportsnet. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ Feschuk, Dave (16 January 2013). "Komarov a compelling prospect for Leafs: Feschuk". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- 1 2 Комаров Леонид Александрович (in Russian). HC Dynamo. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ "Leo Komarov". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ Mirtle, James (11 November 2014). "Meet Leo Komarov, the Leafs’ international man of mystery". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ↑ "архив газеты "Молодежь Эстонии" (Narvityanin on the way to the NHL)" (in Russian). Молодежь Эстонии. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ↑ "Leo Komarovin huima pesti KHL:ään varmistui – Jääkiekko – Ilta-Sanomat" (in Finnish). iltasanomat.fi. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ Johnston, Chris (7 May 2012). "Maple Leafs ‘dynamic’ prospect Leo Komarov hopes to make the jump from KHL". The Star. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "NHL kutsuu Leo Komarovia" (in Finnish). MTV3fi. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ "Leo Komarov". capgeek.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens – 09/02/2013 – Toronto Maple Leafs – Boxscore". National Hockey League. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ "Leafs sign Robidas; Welcome back Frattin, Komarov". The Sports Network. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
- 1 2 "Leafs’ Komarov misses practice after Ovie hit". Roger's Sportsnet. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ↑ "NHL announces full rosters for '16 NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
External links
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