Vitalij Aab

Vitalij Aab (born November 14, 1979) is a German ice hockey player who is currently playing for Höchstadter EC in the German Oberliga.

Playing career Vitalij Aab's professional debut was at the age of 17 for EC Wilhelmshaven. In his second season, he scored 28 points. In 1999, he was promoted into the second division with Wilhelmshaven. Two years later, he transferred to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers, where he played for three years. During this time he played so well that the German national coach called him up to play for the German national ice hockey team. Aab had the worst season of his career in 2004–05 with the Adler Mannheim; he only scored 24 points in 48 games, and therefore received very little ice time at the end of the season.

He left Mannheim after only one season and switched to the Iserlohn Roosters. After struggling at first, Aab's performance improved dramatically. At the end of the season, he was the highest scorer in Germany. Before the 2006–07 season, he signed with the Hamburg Freezers.

Aab returned to the Ice Tigers, now known at that time as the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, in 2010.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1997–98 EC Wilhelmshaven 2.GBun 54 16 12 28 6 — — — — — 1998–99 EC Wilhelmshaven 3.GBun 36 16 18 34 26 — — — — — 1999–00 EC Wilhelmshaven 2.GBun 40 10 5 15 71 — — — — — 2000–01 EC Wilhelmshaven 2.GBun 49 20 14 34 20 — — — — — 2001–02 Nürnberg Ice Tigers DEL 58 13 20 33 8 4 0 0 0 0 2002–03 Nürnberg Ice Tigers DEL 52 18 10 28 24 5 1 0 1 0 2003–04 Nürnberg Ice Tigers DEL 51 11 12 23 24 6 1 3 4 2 2004–05 Adler Mannheim DEL 48 11 13 24 12 10 0 0 0 2 2005–06 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 52 16 17 33 12 — — — — — 2006–07 Hamburg Freezers DEL 52 11 17 28 32 7 0 4 4 0 2007–08 Hamburg Freezers DEL 56 14 18 32 46 8 4 2 6 4 2008–09 Hamburg Freezers DEL 34 15 17 32 22 9 3 4 7 6 2009–10 Hamburg Freezers DEL 55 11 18 29 30 — — — — — 2010–11 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 51 13 18 31 12 2 0 0 0 0 2011–12 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 48 12 15 27 41 — — — — — 2012–13 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers DEL 27 1 0 1 10 — — — — — DEL totals 584 146 175 321 273 51 9 13 22 14