|
Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov ((ロシア語:Владимир Николаевич Константинов); born March 19, 1967) is a Russian-American retired professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings. Previously, he had played for Soviet club CSKA Moscow. His career was ended in a limousine crash just six days after the Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup victory. ==Playing career== Vladimir Konstantinov, known also as "Vladdie" and "Vlad the Impaler" (for his vicious hits), was drafted 221st overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, after impressing a Red Wings scout at the 1987 World Junior Championships, where a brawl broke out in the USSR/Canada game. Scout Neil Smith remembers, "He was the only one of the Russians who fought back." Probably the most notable aspect of his hockey career was his aggressive style, specializing in getting opponents off their game. "For my game," he explained, "I don’t need to score the goal. I need someone to start thinking about me and forgetting about scoring goals." Konstantinov's aggressive style of play also earned him the nickname "Vladinator". In the 1993-94 NHL regular season, he scored three short-handed goals to tie Raymond Bourque, Jyrki Lumme and Richard Smehlik for the league lead among defensemen.〔(1993-94 NHL Season Skater Statistics )〕 He was also part of the unit known as "The Russian Five," which consisted of him and fellow defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov, and forwards Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov, and Vyacheslav Kozlov. Konstantinov earned the NHL Plus/Minus Award in 1995–96, with a plus/minus difference of +60. The +60 has been the highest rating a player has finished with in the past 20 seasons, since Wayne Gretzky finished with a +70 in the 1986–87 NHL season. In 1996–97, Konstantinov helped his team to win the Stanley Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers. Flyers coach Terry Murray expected that his top line of center Eric Lindros, left winger John LeClair and right winger Mikael Renberg, known as the "Legion of Doom" for its scoring and toughness, would be facing Konstantinov. However Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman surprised the Flyers by instead opting for the finesse-oriented defense pairing of Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy to neutralize the Lindros line's forechecking. In that same year, Konstantinov was runner-up to Brian Leetch for the Norris Trophy, given to the league's best defenseman. This would turn out to be Konstantinov's final season. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vladimir Konstantinov」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|