VETERAN SERGEI ZUBOV RETURNS TO RUSSIA, SKA ST.PETERSBURGH (KHL)

After a 16-year NHL career, Sergei Zubov is heading home as the 39-year old blueliner has signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.


SERGEI ZUBOV. DALLAS STARS

Zubov, who has spent his last 12 seasons with the Stars, only played 10 games with Dallas in 2008-09 because of a hip injury that required surgery. In those 10 contests, he recorded four assists.

The Moscow-native was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1990 with the 85th overall draft pick. Known as one of the better puck-moving defenceman and power play specialists of the last decade, Zubov has 152 goals and 619 assists in 1068 career games.

He helped the Rangers capture the Stanley Cup in 1994 then helped lead the Dallas Stars to their first Cup in franchise history in 1999. He also captured an Gold medal for the Commonwealth of Independent States at the 1992 Olympics.

In the late 1990s, the Dallas Stars emerged as one of the dominant franchises in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 and returning to the finals in 2000. Night in and night out, coach Ken Hitchcock sent out an incredible lineup that boasted goalie Ed Belfour and skaters Brett Hull, Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk, to name just a few. But it may be said that no other player has been as crucial to the team's success as its Russian defenseman, Sergei Zubov.

An offensive-minded rearguard, the 6-foot 1-inch, 200-pound Zubov adds tremendous scoring as well as consistent leadership on the power play. "He brings his great skill with him, and his performance has been so consistent," says Stars general manager.

Zubov played four seasons with Moscow's Central Red Army team, between 1988 and 1992. He represented the Soviet Union at the World Junior Championships in 1989 and 1990, when his teams won the gold and silver medal respectively. He was also a gold medal winner as a member of the Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He played for Russia at the 1992 World Championships a fifth-place finish, and at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where his team placed fourth.

In 1990 the New York Rangers drafted Zubov in the fifth round with the 85th overall pick. They assigned him to their AHL farm team in Binghamton, New York, in 1992, and after 30 games he'd registered 36 points and earned a promotion. In his first 49 NHL games he generated a promising 8 goals and 31 points. His second season, 1993-94, he reached his offensive zenith, scoring 77 assists and 89 points. He added 5 goals and 19 points during the playoffs to help the Rangers win their first Stanley Cup since 1940. Hockey Hall of Fame