Lyudmila Belyakova

Liudmila Viktorovna "Luda" Belyakova (, also transliterated Lyudmila Belyakova; born 12 August 1994) is a Russian ice hockey forward and member of the Russian national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with HC Tornado. She is a 'Master of Sports of Russia of International Class,' as named by the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation in 2013.

A member of the New York Riveters during the 2015–16 NWHL season, Belyakova was the first Russian to play in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

Playing career Belyakova started playing ice hockey at age seven and played both forward and defense in her youth.

On 25 July 2015, it was announced that Belyakova had signed a one-year contract with the New York Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League. She joined the roster as one of three Riveters from outside of North America, alongside Janine Weber of the Austrian national team and goaltender Nana Fujimoto of Smile Japan. Belyakova ranked third on the team for scoring with ten points (5 goals+5 assists) in fifteen games played and scored one of the team's four playoff goals.

The Riveters opted not to sign her for the 2016–17 season, and it has been speculated that the language barrier was a major motivator behind the choice. As a free agent, Belyakova returned to Russia to play for her former club, Tornado Dmitrov, in the 2016–17 ZhHL season.

International play Belyakova was invited to join the Russian national under-18 ice hockey team when she was 12 years old and made her IIHF Women's World U18 Championship debut at the 2010 tournament. Belyakova was named the best player and best scorer of the 2011 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship – Division I. She also participated in the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship and was named a top-3 player on the Russian team by the coaches of the tournament. In total, she played 28 games for the Russian national U18 team, scoring 30 goals and making 11 assists.

Several weeks after turning 15, Belyakova was invited to join the Russian national team and her debut with the Russian senior national team quickly followed in a match against the Slovak women's national team in Trenčín on 4 September 2009. Representing Russia, she has participated at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017. She was included in the list of candidates for the Russian national team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, though she was not selected to the squad. She was the first replacement for the Russian team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

As of 2017, Belyakova had played 131 international and showcase games with the Russian national team and had scored 51 goals and 38 assists.

In the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Belyakova played with the Olympic Athletes from Russia team. She ranked second on the team for points, scoring a goal and two assists. The team placed fourth after a bronze medal game loss to .

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Sources:

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2010 Russia U18 WW18 8th 5 1 2 3 6 2011 Russia U18 WW18 D1 1st 5 11 5 16 4 2012 Russia U18 WW18 7th 6 6 1 7 6 2012 Russia WW 6th 5 0 0 0 12 2013 Russia WW 6 1 0 1 4 2015 Russia WW 4th 6 1 0 1 4 2015 Russia U25 Uni 4 3 3 6 6 2016 Russia WW 6 0 0 0 4 2017 Russia U25 Uni 4 1 8 9 4 2017 Russia WW 5th 5 1 0 1 2 2018 OAR OG 4th 6 1 2 36 Junior totals 16 18 8 26 16 Senior totals 42 8 13 21 42 Sources:

Awards and achievements Team promoted to Top Division, 2011 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship – Division I Master of Sports of Russia of International Class, 2013 World Championship bronze medal, 2013 and 2016 Winter Universiade gold medal, 2015 and 2017 RWHL Champion, 2014–15 ZhHL Champion, 2016–17 Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation, 2015 and 2017