Born	March 18, 1980 (1980-03-18) (age 29), Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
KHL team F. teams	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl New Jersey Devils (NHL) Nashville Predators (NHL) Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (NHL) Khimik Moscow Oblast (RSL)
Ntl. team	Russia
NHL Draft	5th overall, 1998 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Career	1998 – present

Vitaly Viktorovich Vishnevskiy (Russian: Виталий Викторович Вишневский); born March 18, 1980) is a Ukrainian-Russian^[1] professional ice hockey defencenan currently playing for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

[edit] Playing career

After playing in the Russian Super League for Torpedo Yaroslavl, Vishnevskiy was drafted 5th overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He came to North America to start the 1999–00 season playing for the Ducks affiliate the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League. He also made his NHL debut playing in 31 games for the Ducks.

Vishnesvki established himself as a mainstay on the Duck defense, known for his punishing checks. In the 2002–03 season he helped to Ducks reach the Stanley Cup finals. Playing in all their playoff games in their eventual defeat to the New Jersey Devils. Vitaly scored a career high 16 points (6 goals and 10 assists) in the 2003–04 NHL season. Vishnevskiy returned to Russia to play for Khimik Voskresensk during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

In the 2005–06 NHL season, Vishnevskiy continued to play for the Ducks where they made their way to the conference finals before losing to the Edmonton Oilers. On August 17, 2006 Vishnevskiy was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Karl Stewart and a 2nd round pick prior to the 2006–07 NHL season.^[2]

Vitaly played in 52 games with the Thrashers before he was traded to the Nashville Predators for Éric Bélanger on February 10, 2007.^[3] Vishnevskiy left the Predators at seasons end and was signed as a free agent by the New Jersey Devils to a three year contract on July 10, 2007.^[4] After one season of play, with the Devils, he was waived on August 22, 2008.^[5] Vishnevskiy cleared waivers and decided to go play in the newly formed KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on August 26, 2008.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Russia
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold	2009 Switzerland
World Junior Championships
Gold	1999 Winnipeg
Silver	1998 Helsinki

Played for Russia in:

• 1998 World Junior Championships (Silver Medal)
• 1999 World Junior Championships (Gold Medal)
• 1999 World Championships
• 2001 World Championships
• 2004 World Cup
• 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2009 World Championships

[edit] International statistics

Year	Team	Event	Place		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	Russia	WJC	2 		7	1	2	3	6
1999	Russia	WJC	1 		7	0	2	2	6
1999	Russia	WC	5th		6	0	1	1	8
2001	Russia	WC	5th		7	0	3	3	6
2004	Russia	WCH	QF		3	0	0	0	0
2006	Russia	Oly	4th		8	0	1	1	4
2009	Russia	WC	1 		9	0	0	0	29
Junior int'l totals					14	1	4	5	12
Senior int'l totals					33	0	5	5	47

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Vitaly Vishnevskiy's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Vitaly Vishnevskiy's NHL player profile
• Vitaly Vishnevskiy – player profile and career stats at European Hockey.Net

This biographical article relating to Ice hockey in Russia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e