Yuri Kuznetsov

Yuri Kuznetsov (Russian Юрий Кузнецов, born 31 January 1965) is a Russian former ice hockey player.

Career

Early career in Russia Kuznetsov started his professional career in 1985, playing in Russia for Krylya Sovetov Moscow of the Soviet Hockey League and of the Vysshaya Liga until 1993.

Finland After one year in Swedish Elitserien, he joined HIFK in the SM-liiga, where he played for 3 seasons. At the beginning of the 1997–1998 season he moved to SaiPa where Kuznetsov stayed for nearly five seasons. During the middle of the 2001–02 season, Kuznetsov left SaiPa and returned to his homeland and the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl after nine years spent abroad.

Overall, Kuznetsov played in 388 matches in SM-liiga and scored 53 goals, 119 assists and 172 points. He collected 305 penalty minutes. Kuznetsov belonged to the best defenders of the league, scoring 36 points in each of the seasons 1999–2000 and 2000–2001.

Retirement After half of a season in Russia, Kuznetsov returned to Finland to play the 2002–2003 season for Hokki in Mestis, which was the final year of his career.

Career statistics Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 85/86 Krylia Sovetov RSL 40 0 2 2 20 86/87 Krylia Sovetov RSL 12 0 0 0 6 86/87 Vys. 20 5 3 8 6 87/88 Voronezh Buran Vys. 65 13 11 24 62 89/90 Krylia Sovetov RSL 52 0 2 2 26 90/91 Krylia Sovetov RSL 23 1 2 3 12 91/92 Krylia Sovetov RSL 30 4 1 5 14 92/93 Krylia Sovetov RSL 42 8 2 10 14 7 0 1 1 0 93/94 IF Björklöven Elitserien 22 4 5 9 10 93/94 IF Björklöven Allsvenskan 17 3 1 4 30 2 0 0 0 2 94/95 HIFK SM-liiga 49 9 18 27 56 3 0 1 1 0 95/96 HIFK SM-liiga 50 6 11 17 75 3 0 0 0 0 96/97 HIFK SM-liiga 48 6 14 20 32 97/98 SaiPa SM-liiga 48 6 5 11 44 3 0 0 0 2 98/99 SaiPa SM-liiga 54 3 15 18 34 7 2 2 4 2 99/00 SaiPa SM-liiga 54 12 24 36 18 00/01 SaiPa SM-liiga 55 9 27 36 34 01/02 SaiPa SM-liiga 30 2 5 7 12 01/02 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 20 2 2 4 8 9 0 0 0 14 02/03 Hokki Mestis 8 0 2 2 6 Totals 739 93 152 245 519 34 2 4 6 20 SM-liiga 388 53 119 172 305 16 2 3 5 4 Russian Superleague 219 15 11 26 100 16 0 1 1 14 Elitserien 22 4 5 9 10