Kārlis Skrastiņš

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kārlis Skrastiņš
Skrastiņš in 2006
Born (1974-07-09)July 9, 1974
Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Died September 7, 2011(2011-09-07) (aged 37)
Yaroslavl, Russia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position
Defence
Shot Left
Played for
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft 230th overall, 1998
Nashville Predators
Playing career 1991–2011

Kārlis Skrastiņš (July 9, 1974 – September 7, 2011) was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Skrastiņš was drafted by the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League in 1998 as a defenceman and spent twelve years in the league playing for the Predators, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the Dallas Stars.

For the 2011-2012 season, Skrastiņš left the NHL and signed a contract to play in

2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed almost the entire team on September 7, 2011.[1]

Playing career

Skrastiņš was drafted by

shorthanded goal. He played for Nashville for five seasons until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2003.[3] On February 8, 2007, he played in his 487th consecutive game to pass Tim Horton for the longest playing streak in NHL history for a defenceman.[4] Skrastiņš' streak ended at 495 games, when he missed a February 25, 2007 game against the Anaheim Ducks with a knee injury.[5] He had previously missed only one other game due to injury in his career — against St. Louis on February 18, 2000, with a minor shoulder injury. The streak led to him being given the nickname "Ironman".[6]

In his fourth season with the Avalanche in

2008–09, Skrastiņš scored a career high 18 points in 80 games. On October 16, 2008, he played his 600th career NHL game against the Minnesota Wild[8] and on November 1, 2008, he scored his 100th point in his NHL career in a 3–2 loss fittingly against his original club, the Nashville Predators.[9]

On July 2, 2009, he was signed by the

2009–10 season, including the game winner, on December 19 in a 4–3 Stars victory over the Detroit Red Wings.[11]

On May 17, 2011, after eleven seasons in the NHL, Skrastiņš left to sign a contract with Russian team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.[12]

Death

Skrastins died on September 7, 2011, when a

crashed just outside Yaroslavl, Russia.[13] The team was traveling to Minsk to play their opening game of the season, with its coaching staff and prospects. Lokomotiv officials said "'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.'"[14][15][16][17]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

   
Regular season
  Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Stars Rīga
LAT
16 7 6 13 10
1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga LAT 10 7 2 9 12
1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga
RUS
40 3 5 8 16 2 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Pārdaugava Rīga RUS 42 7 5 12 18 2 1 0 1 4
1994–95 Pārdaugava Rīga RUS 52 4 14 18 69
1995–96 TPS
SM-l
50 4 11 15 32 11 2 2 4 10
1996–97 TPS SM-l 50 2 8 10 20 12 0 4 4 2
1997–98 TPS SM-l 48 4 15 19 67 4 0 0 0 0
1998–99 Nashville Predators NHL 2 0 1 1 0
1998–99 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 75 8 36 44 47 2 0 1 1 2
1999–2000 Nashville Predators NHL 59 5 6 11 20
1999–2000 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19 3 8 11 10
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 82 1 11 12 30
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 82 4 13 17 36
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 82 3 10 13 44
2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 5 8 13 26 11 0 2 2 2
2004–05
HK Rīga 2000
BLR
34 8 17 25 30 3 0 0 0 25
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LAT 4 0 4 4 0 9 3 10 13 33
2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 3 11 14 65 9 0 1 1 10
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 68 0 11 11 30
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 43 1 3 4 20
2007–08 Florida Panthers NHL 17 1 0 1 12
2008–09 Florida Panthers NHL 80 4 14 18 30
2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 79 2 11 13 24
2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 74 3 5 8 38
RUS totals 134 14 24 38 103 4 1 0 1 4
SM-l totals 148 10 34 44 119 27 2 6 8 12
NHL totals 832 32 104 136 375 20 0 3 3 12

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1993
Latvia WC C 21st 7 1 6 7 0
1993 Latvia OGQ DNQ 4 1 1 2 2
1994 Latvia
WJC C
18th 4 1 5 6 33
1994
Latvia WC B 14th 7 3 5 8 0
1995
Latvia WC B 14th 7 1 1 2 4
1996
Latvia WC B 13th 7 2 2 4 8
1997
Latvia WC 7th 8 0 3 3 4
1998 Latvia WC 9th 6 0 1 1 6
1999 Latvia WC 11th 6 1 1 2 6
2000 Latvia WC 8th 7 1 2 3 4
2001 Latvia WC 13th 6 3 0 3 0
2002 Latvia OG 9th 1 0 0 0 0
2003 Latvia WC 9th 6 3 3 6 27
2005 Latvia OGQ Q 3 1 0 1 0
2005 Latvia WC 9th 6 2 0 2 2
2006 Latvia OG 12th 5 0 1 1 0
2009 Latvia WC 7th 7 1 1 2 0
2010 Latvia OG 12th 4 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 5 2 5 7 33
Senior totals 99 20 28 48 67

See also

  • List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career

References

  1. Lifenews.ru
    . Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  2. ^ "Karlis Skrastins #37 – D". TSN.ca. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Karlis Skrastins". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Avalanche blue-liner Karlis Skrastins sets ironman mark". CBC.ca. February 8, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  5. ^ "Skrastins' consecutive game streak ends at 495". ESPN.com. Associated Press. February 26, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  6. ^ "Karlis Skrastins, Ice Hockey". Vancouver 2010.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Avalanche acquire Ruslan Salei". CBC. February 26, 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  8. NHL
    . October 16, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  9. ^ "Predators outlast Panthers". CBS Sports. November 1, 2008. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  10. ^ "Dallas Stars Sign Skrastins To 2-Year Deal". CBS 11 TV.com. Associated Press. July 2, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Stars snap Red Wings' four-game winning streak". USA Today. Associated Press. December 19, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  12. ^ "NHL defender in Yaroslavl". Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. May 17, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  13. ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia confirms that Skrastins has died". Tvnet (in Latvian). Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  14. Lifenews.ru
    . September 7, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  15. Lifenews.ru
    . September 7, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  16. ^ "Pavol Demitra among 43 killed in Russian plane crash". Toronto: theglobeandmail.com. September 7, 2011. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  17. ^ Lynn Berry (September 7, 2011). "Russian jet crash kills 43, many top hockey stars". Forbes. Retrieved September 7, 2011.[dead link]

External links