Ruslan Salei

Ruslan Albertovich Salei (Belarusian: Руслан Альбертавіч Салей; Russian: Руслан Альбертович Салей; November 2, 1974 – September 7, 2011) was a Belarusian professional ice hockey player. Salei played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the latter of which selected him ninth overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Ruslan Salei
Salei while with the Detroit Red Wings.
Born (1974-11-02)November 2, 1974
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR,
Soviet Union
Died September 7, 2011(2011-09-07) (aged 36)
Yaroslavl, Russia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Dinamo Minsk
Tivali Minsk
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Ak Bars Kazan
Florida Panthers
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
National team  Belarus
NHL Draft 9th overall, 1996
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Playing career 1992–2011

Salei died on September 7, 2011, in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash. A Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying almost the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, en route to Minsk, Belarus, to start the 2011–12 KHL season.[1][2] He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2014.

Playing career

Salei was selected by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ninth overall at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. In 1992, prior to being selected for the Ducks, Salei played in his native Belarus for Dinamo Minsk in the Russian Elite League. After the 1994–95 season, the Russian Elite League re-aligned, pushing Tivali Minsk to the side. Salei then came to North America, being signed by general manager Bob Strumm of the Las Vegas Thunder without Strumm knowing of his capabilities.[3][4]

During a successful spell with the Thunder, Salei was drafted by the Ducks and soon signed a three-year contract worth $2.25 million. Salei split time between the Ducks, Baltimore Bandits and the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League (AHL) before becoming a full squad member of the Ducks by the end of the 1997–98 season.

In October 1999, Salei was suspended by the NHL for ten games after he checked Dallas Stars center Mike Modano face first into the boards from behind. Modano suffered a slight concussion, strained ligaments in his neck and a broken nose.[5] Salei played in all 21 of Anaheim's games in the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, which saw the Ducks advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose in seven games to the New Jersey Devils. Salei scored the overtime game-winning goal in Game 3 of that series.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Salei played in the Russian Superleague (RSL) for AK Bars Kazan. He returned to the Ducks upon resumption of the NHL the following season and played with the Ducks until the end of the 2005–06 season, playing 594 regular season games in his career for Anaheim, the franchise record for a defenceman (since surpassed by Cam Fowler).

Salei on November 15, 2007, with the Florida Panthers.

On July 2, 2006, Salei signed a four-year, $12 million contract with the Florida Panthers.[6] He quickly settled with the Panthers with his most productive season in 2006–07, totalling 32 points (6 goals and 26 assists) in 82 regular season games. He continued his new-found offensive production in 2007–08, and as the Panthers fell out of contention for the 2008 playoffs, on February 26, 2008, Salei was traded at the NHL trade deadline to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Kārlis Skrastiņš and a third-round draft pick.[7]

As a veteran and in his first full season with the Avalanche in 2008–09, Salei finished second among defencemen with 21 points in 70 games. He appeared in his 800th career NHL game against the St. Louis Blues on January 15, 2009[8] and surpassed 1,000 career penalty minutes against the Minnesota Wild on March 12, 2009.[9] Ruslan suffered a back injury to start the 2009–10 season, forcing him to miss 56 games.[10] He was able to recover in time to lead Belarus in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but was relegated as a reserve defenceman upon his return to the Avalanche, playing in a career-low 14 games.[11]

On August 9, 2010, the Detroit Red Wings announced that it had signed Salei as a free agent to a one-year, $750,000 contract worth an additional $350,000 in potential performance bonuses.[12] According to Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, Salei's positive experiences under then Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock (Salei's former head coach in Anaheim) contributed to his decision.[13] Salei scored two goals paired with eight assists during that season, as well as one goal during the 2011 playoffs in Detroit's first-round matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes.

On July 5, 2011, Salei signed a one-year contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Death
See also: 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash

On September 7, 2011, at 4:02 PM local time, a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team, crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, en route to Minsk, Belarus, to begin the 2011–12 season. Of the 45 passengers and crew on board, 44 were killed, including Salei.[1]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990–91 Progress Grodno URS.2 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1991–92 Neman Grodno CIS.2 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1992–93 Dinamo Minsk RUS 9 1 0 1 10 — — — — —
1992–93 Neman Grodno RUS.2 28 4 2 6 20 — — — — —
1992–93 Tivali Minsk BLR 11 2 0 2 6 — — — — —
1993–94 Tivali Minsk RUS 39 2 3 5 50 — — — — —
1993–94 Tivali Minsk BLR 16 1 2 3 20 — — — — —
1994–95 Tivali Minsk RUS 51 4 2 6 44 — — — — —
1994–95 Tivali Minsk BLR 10 3 5 8 2 — — — — —
1995–96 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 76 7 23 30 123 15 3 7 10 18
1996–97 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 8 0 2 2 24 3 2 1 3 6
1996–97 Baltimore Bandits AHL 12 1 4 5 12 — — — — —
1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 30 0 1 1 37 — — — — —
1997–98 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 6 3 6 9 14 — — — — —
1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 66 5 10 15 70 — — — — —
1998–99 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 74 2 14 16 65 3 0 0 0 4
1999–2000 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 71 5 5 10 94 — — — — —
2000–01 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 50 1 5 6 70 — — — — —
2001–02 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 82 4 7 11 97 — — — — —
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 61 4 8 12 78 21 2 3 5 26
2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 82 4 11 15 110 — — — — —
2004–05 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 35 8 12 20 36 3 0 0 0 2
2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 78 1 18 19 114 16 3 2 5 18
2006–07 Florida Panthers NHL 82 6 26 32 102 — — — — —
2007–08 Florida Panthers NHL 65 3 20 23 75 — — — — —
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 17 3 4 7 23 10 1 4 5 4
2008–09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 70 4 17 21 72 — — — — —
2009–10 Colorado Avalanche NHL 14 1 5 6 10 1 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Detroit Red Wings NHL 75 2 8 10 48 11 1 0 1 0
NHL totals 917 45 159 204 1065 62 7 9 16 52
RUS totals 99 7 5 12 104 — — — — —

International
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1994 Belarus WC C 22nd 6 1 2 3 10
1995 Belarus WC C 21st 4 0 1 1 4
1997 Belarus OGQ Q 4 0 2 2 18
1998 Belarus OG 7th 7 1 0 1 4
1998 Belarus WC 8th 2 1 0 1 8
2000 Belarus WC 9th 6 0 1 1 6
2001 Belarus WC 14th 6 0 1 1 31
2002 Belarus OG 4th 6 2 1 3 4
2004 Belarus WC D1 17th 5 3 4 7 2
2005 Belarus OGQ DNQ 2 1 0 1 2
2008 Belarus WC 9th 5 0 2 2 6
2009 Belarus WC 8th 6 2 3 5 6
2010 Belarus OG 9th 4 1 0 1 0
2010 Belarus WC 10th 6 1 1 2 8
Senior totals 65 13 16 29 91

See also

References
  1. "Hockey dealing with aftermath of KHL plane crash".
  2. "Hockey dealing with aftermath of KHL plane crash". NHL.
  3. "Ruslan Salei from Minsk to Miami". hockeyadventure.com. 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  4. Adrian Dater (2009-02-02). "Avs' Salei gets American initiation in Sin City". Denver Post. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  5. "Salei suspended 10 games for hit on Mike Modano". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 1999-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  6. "Panthers ink D Ruslan Salei". panthers.nhl.com. 2006-07-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  7. "Avalanche acquire Ruslan Salei". cbc.ca. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  8. "Janssen leads Blues past Avalanche". CBS Sports. 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  9. "Avalanche 2, Minnesota 1 SO". NHL. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  10. Dater, Adrian (2010-02-10). "Salei OK to play, but when?". Denver Post. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  11. "Belarus names Olympic Roster". NBC Sports. 2009-12-23. Archived from the original on 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  12. "Wings sign defenseman Salei for 1-year". Detroit Red Wings. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  13. "Red Wings pick up defender Ruslan Salei". Freep.com. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  14. "Ruslan Salei inducted in IIHF Hall of Fame". Republic of Belarus. Belarusian Telegraph Agency. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  15. Glebov, Yegor (2 January 2014). "Ruslan Salei becomes first Belarusian in the IIHF Hall of Fame". Belarus Today. Minsk, Belarus. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
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