Yuri Babenko

Yury Ivanovich Babenko (; born 2 January 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He most notably played for Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and briefly with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career Babenko was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 in the 2nd round, 51st overall. After a season in the Ontario Hockey League for the Plymouth Whalers, Babenko joined the Avalanche organization in 1998. After three seasons in the American Hockey League for the Hershey Bears, he finally made his NHL debut for Colorado during the 2000–01 NHL season, playing 3 games in all without registering a point.

Babenko spent another year with Hershey before returning to Russia with Dynamo Moscow. He has also played for Khimik Voskresensk, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and SKA St. Petersburg.

On June 28, 2009, Babenko returned on a one-year contract to former club HC MVD for the 2009–10 season. After scoring 10 point in 35 games and helping MVD advance to the finals, Babenko followed MVD into the merger with Dynamo Moscow, to sign with UHC Dynamo for the 2010–11 season on May 29, 2010.

Coaching career Following his professional playing career, Babenko moved into the coaching ranks, remaining with Dynamo Moscow as an assistant coach for two seasons. He later served as the head coach of HC Vityaz of the KHL for the 2021–22 season. He joined Ak Bars Kazan coaching ranks as an assistant during the 2022–23 season, and was elevated at interim coach before returning to an assistant role following the hiring of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1994–95 Krylya Sovetov-2 Moscow RUS-2 28 3 7 10 30 — — — — — 1995–96 Krylya Sovetov Moscow RUS 21 0 0 0 16 — — — — — 1995–96 Krylya Sovetov-2 Moscow RUS-2 25 14 3 17 45 — — — — — 1996–97 Krylya Sovetov Moscow RSL 4 1 0 1 4 — — — — — 1996–97 Krylya Sovetov-2 Moscow RUS-3 25 8 10 18 24 — — — — — 1996–97 CSKA-2 Moscow RUS-3 2 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 1997–98 Plymouth Whalers OHL 59 22 34 56 22 15 3 7 10 24 1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 74 11 15 26 47 2 0 1 1 0 1999–00 Hershey Bears AHL 75 20 25 45 53 14 4 3 7 37 2000–01 Hershey Bears AHL 71 17 18 35 80 12 2 1 3 6 2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Hershey Bears AHL 67 7 22 29 95 8 2 2 4 6 2002–03 Dynamo Moscow RSL 35 3 8 11 52 2 0 0 0 2 2003–04 Dynamo Moscow RSL 24 2 3 5 34 — — — — — 2003–04 Dynamo Moscow-2 RUS-3 6 3 1 4 16 — — — — — 2004–05 Dynamo Moscow RSL 33 5 2 7 24 — — — — — 2004–05 Khimik Voskresensk RSL 11 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 2005–06 HC MVD RSL 43 8 5 13 115 4 2 1 3 16 2006–07 HC MVD RSL 46 9 10 19 46 2 1 1 2 2 2006–07 HC MVD-2 Balashikha RUS-4 2 2 1 3 0 — — — — — 2007–08 Metallurg Magnitogorsk RSL 54 10 3 13 58 13 1 4 5 10 2008–09 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2008–09 SKA St. Petersburg KHL 46 3 9 12 38 3 1 0 1 14 2009–10 HC MVD KHL 35 5 5 10 26 22 4 1 5 34 2010–11 Dynamo Moscow KHL 45 4 8 12 57 6 0 1 1 4 2011–12 Dynamo Moscow KHL 40 5 8 13 42 17 1 2 3 8 2012–13 Dynamo Moscow KHL 34 6 6 12 14 21 1 4 5 10 2013–14 Dynamo Moscow KHL 52 10 12 22 39 7 0 1 1 16 2014–15 Dynamo Moscow KHL 36 4 3 7 59 7 0 2 2 25 2015–16 Dynamo Moscow KHL 54 1 4 5 22 1 0 0 0 0 KHL totals 347 38 55 93 301 84 7 11 18 111 NHL totals 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1996 Russia EJC 5 0 4 4 4 Junior totals 5 0 4 4 4