Sergei Bobrovsky

Sergei Bobrovsky
Born (1988-09-20) 20 September 1988
Novokuznetsk, Russian SFSR, URS
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Columbus Blue Jackets
Philadelphia Flyers
Metallurg Novokuznetsk
SKA Saint Petersburg
National team  Russia
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2006–present

Sergei Andreyevich "Bob" Bobrovsky (Russian: Серге́й Андреевич Бобровский; born 20 September 1988) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy for the 2012–13 regular season after posting a 21–11–6 record and a .932 save percentage.

Playing career

Philadelphia Flyers (2010–2012)

Bobrovsky in goal for the Flyers

Bobrovsky was never drafted into the NHL. Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren has said that the Flyers considered drafting him during the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, but ultimately decided not to given the difficulty of signing Russian players at the time.[1] After playing his first four professional seasons with Metallurg Novokuznetsk in Russia, Bobrovsky signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on 6 May 2010.[2] He was initially slated to begin his North American career with the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Adirondack Phantoms,[3] but after impressing coaches during training camp, Bobrovsky replaced the injured starter Michael Leighton on the roster.[4] Even after Leighton recovered, however, Bobrovsky continued to share duties with Brian Boucher.

Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette named Bobrovsky the starting goaltender for the opening game of the 2010–11 season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 7 October 2010.[4] In his NHL debut, Bobrovsky picked up a 3–2 win and was named the game's first star in the first regular season game at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.[5] At 22 years and 17 days, he became the youngest goaltender to win a season-opening game for the Flyers, eclipsing Ron Hextall, who started at 22 years and 159 days on 9 October, 1986.[5] He was also the first Flyers rookie goaltender to win his NHL debut since Antero Niittymäki did so in 2004.[6] Bobrovsky enjoyed a successful rookie season, posting a 28–13–8 record along with a .915 save percentage. After a disappointing showing during the playoffs, however, in which he was often benched in favor of backup Brian Boucher, the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year contract to be their new starting goaltender.

Columbus Blue Jackets (2012–present)

With Columbus in 2013

After a season backing-up Bryzgalov, on 22 June 2012, Bobrovsky was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Columbus' second round draft choice in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (Anthony Stolarz), a fourth round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (Taylor Leier), and the Phoenix Coyotes' fourth round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft (Justin Auger).[7][8]

As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Bobrovsky signed a contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), but returned to the Blue Jackets when the lockout finished. After splitting time early in the season, Bobrovsky supplanted Steve Mason as Columbus's starting goaltender; it was Bobrovsky's first time as a starter since his rookie season in Philadelphia. Bobrovsky was instrumental in the Blue Jackets' push for a playoff spot, which ultimately came up just short, as the team finished in ninth place in the Western Conference. Despite this, however, Bobrovsky had 21 wins, and career bests of a 2.00 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. With this performance, he was awarded the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's top goaltender.[9]

On 1 July 2013 he signed a two-year, $11.25 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.[10] On July 3, 2013, he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.

On 3 December 2013, Bobrovsky was injured in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and would be out for four-to-five weeks. He returned to action on 6 January 2014, against the New York Rangers, earning a shootout victory by the score of 4–3. Bobrovsky also made a robbing glove save in the shootout on former Blue Jackets forward star Rick Nash, which was considered to be the game-saving stop.

Bobrovsky backstopped the Blue Jackets in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals. The Blue Jackets won their first playoff game in franchise history on April 19, 2014, in Game 2 by a score of 4–3, and their second-ever playoff victory in Game 4. Bobrovsky played lights out in Game 5, saving 48 of 50 shots, posting a 0.960 save percentage. The Blue Jackets, however, ended up losing the game 3–1. The Blue Jackets were eliminated in Game 6 on April 28, 2014, by a score of 4-3.

International play
Medal record
Representing Russia Russia
Ice hockey
World Championships
2014 Belarus
2015 Czech Republic
World Junior Championships
2008 Czech Republic

Bobrovsky participated in the 2007 Super Series, an eight-game series between Canadian and Russian juniors commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, and garnered the most ice-time of any goaltender. At the end of that year, he played in the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, backstopping Russia to a bronze medal.

Bobrovsky was one of the Russian goalies for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He and Semyon Varlamov split time tending the net. After a disappointing loss in a shootout to Team USA, the Russian team would end up being eliminated from the tournament by Finland with a 3–1 loss. Bobrovsky saw some action after Varlamov was pulled for letting in a couple of soft goals in the final game.

Bobrovsky participated in the 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Belarus as Russia's starting netminder. In his first game at the IIHF, he saved all 27 shots, shutting out the Swiss by the score of 5–0. Russia won a berth in the IIHF Finals against Finland, who eliminated Russia from the Sochi Olympics. Bobrovsky faced-off against fellow NHL goaltender Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators in the gold medal game. Russia went on to win the gold medal game 5–2, with Bobrovsky saving 24 out of 26 shots, backstopping the Russians to their second gold medal in the past three years in the tournament.

Bobrovsky was named the starting goaltender of Team Russia for the 2015 IIHF World Championship. On 9 May, he saved 13 shots including a penalty shot against Belarus in the group stage to help his team to a 7-0 win. On 16 May in the semifinal, Bobrovsky made several outstanding saves against the U.S., and led his team to a 4-0 win. He eventually finished with 35 saves and was named Player of the Game for Team Russia. On 17 May, he allowed 6 goals on 37 shots in the final, and although he made some great saves early on, it was not enough to keep his team from losing 6-1 to Canada.

Personal

Bobrovsky married Olga Dorokova on 16 August 2011.[11]

Awards and achievements

NHL

International

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League Gp W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2006–07 Metallurg Novokuznetsk RSL 8 — — — 280 13 0 2.78 —
2007–08 Metallurg Novokuznetsk RSL 24 — — — 1153 57 1 2.97 .901
2008–09 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 32 6 16 2 1636 68 1 2.49 .927
2009–10 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 35 9 22 3 1964 89 1 2.72 .919
2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 54 28 13 8 3017 130 0 2.59 .915
2011–12 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 29 14 10 2 1550 78 0 3.02 .899
2012–13 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 24 18 3 2 1420 46 4 1.94 .932
2012–13 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 38 21 11 6 2219 74 4 2.00 .932
2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 58 32 20 5 3299 131 5 2.38 .923
2014–15 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 51 30 17 3 2994 134 2 2.69 .918
2015–16 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 37 15 19 1 2116 97 1 2.75 .908
NHL totals 230 140 90 25 15,197 644 12 2.54 .917
KHL totals 91 33 41 7 5019 203 6 2.43 .925
RSL totals 32 — — — 1433 70 1 2.93 —

Playoffs

Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2006–07 Metallurg Novokuznetsk RSL 1 — — 60 4 0 4.02 —
2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 6 0 2 186 10 0 3.23 .877
2011–12 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 1 0 0 37 5 0 8.11 .722
2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 6 2 4 378 20 0 3.17 .908
NHL totals 13 2 6 600 35 0 3.50 .890
RSL totals 1 — — 60 4 0 4.02 —

International

Year Team Event   GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2007 Russia SS 4 0 4 0 240 21 0 5.25 .853
2008 Russia WJC 6 4 2 0 366 15 0 2.46 .919
Junior int'l totals 6 4 2 0 366 15 0 2.46 .919

References

  1. ↑ Joe Siville (2010-11-05). "The Story of Bob". "PhiladelphiaFlyers.com". Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  2. ↑ "Flyers Sign Three Prospects". Philadelphia Flyers. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
  3. ↑ Adam Kimelman (2010-07-14). "Flyers confident they have a future starting goalie". NHL.com. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  4. 1 2 Mike G. Morreale (2010-10-07). "Russian rookie Bobrovsky gets nod in Flyers' net". NHL.com. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  5. 1 2 "Flyers spoil Pens' debut in new home with 3–2 win". NHL.com. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  6. ↑ Frank Seravalli (2010-10-08). "Bobrovsky's play needs no translation as Flyers beat Penguins". philly.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  7. ↑ Mike Brehm (2012-06-22). "Blue Jackets acquire goalie Bobrovsky". USAToday. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  8. ↑ The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc. location=Toronto. 2013. p. 593. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3.
  9. ↑ "Bobrovsky, Lundqvist, Niemi named Vezina finalists". NHL.com. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  10. ↑ Wyshynski, Greg. "Sergei Bobrovsky’s 2-year deal another win for Blue Jackets management". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Josh Janet (2011-08-16). "Flyers News and Notes: August 16, 2011". gcobb.com. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  12. ↑ "Bobrovsky named November's Rookie of the Month". NHL.com. 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  13. ↑ "Bobrovsky, Crosby and Carter named 'Three Stars'". NHL.com. 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  14. ↑ "Bobrovsky, Kessel and Bachman named 'Three Stars'". NHL.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  15. ↑ "Stewart, Turris, Bobrovsky named 'Stars' of week". NHL.com. 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  16. ↑ "Crosby, Subban, Bobrovsky are March's 'Three Stars'". NHL.com. 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2013-04-01.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sergei Bobrovsky.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Henrik Lundqvist		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
2013 		Succeeded by
Tuukka Rask
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