Nik Antropov
{{short description|Kazakh-Canadian ice hockey centre (born 1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Nik Antropov Jets 2012-02-11.JPG
| caption = Antropov with the Winnipeg Jets in 2012
| image_size = 230px
| played_for = Dynamo Moscow
Toronto Maple Leafs
Ak Bars Kazan
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
New York Rangers
Atlanta Thrashers
Winnipeg Jets
Barys Astana
| ntl_team = KAZ
| position = Centre
| shoots = Left
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 6
| weight_lb = 245
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|2|18}}
| birth_place = Oskemen, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
| draft = 10th overall
| draft_year = 1998
| draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs
| career_start = 1996
| career_end = 2015
}}
Nikolai Alexandrovich Antropov ({{langx|ru|Николай Александрович Антропов}}; born February 18, 1980) is a Kazakhstani-Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers and Winnipeg Jets. He received Canadian citizenship in May 2007.{{cite web|work=Canada.com|title=Antropov still feels he doesn't belong|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/hockey/story.html?id=1a1c6c58-f6a1-489e-8e97-d54917b01ccd |date=September 17, 2007|access-date=October 6, 2013}} Internationally Antropov played for Kazakhstan at several junior and senior tournaments, including the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Playing career
Antropov was expected to be drafted early in the second round, but following a dominant season with Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk in the second-tier of the Russian Superleague (RSL), including an international match against Iceland, in which he scored 11 goals and 26 points, he was drafted tenth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.{{cite news|last=Ulmer|first=Michael|title=Leafs select one from afar|work=Vancouver Sun|location=Vancouver|page=D. 2|date=June 29, 1998}} Before going overseas to play hockey in North America, Antropov also played in the RSL with Dynamo Moscow.
When Owen Nolan joined the Maple Leafs in March 2003, Antropov changed his number from #11 (Nolan's number for the San Jose Sharks) to #80, the year of his birth. In 2003–04, Maple Leafs head coach Pat Quinn placed Antropov alongside Joe Nieuwendyk and Alexei Ponikarovsky dubbed the "Skyline" due to the players' height.{{cite web|title=NIK ANTROPOV|url=http://www.baycrestproam.ca/alumni/nik-antropov/|website=baycrestproam.ca|access-date=11 December 2017}} File:AntropovGoal.jpg while a member of the New York Rangers.]]
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Antropov returned to the RSL and played 36 games split between Ak Bars Kazan and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. However, injuries felled the power forward, and he missed significant time during the 2005–06 season. Antropov managed to produce 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points in 57 games.
Upon Antropov's return from injury, he added 15 points in the final 10 regular season games of the 2005–06 season. He finished third on the team in even strength scoring and also led the Leafs in plus-minus with a +13 rating. In 2006–07, Antropov typically played alongside team captain Mats Sundin and Ponikarovsky on Toronto's top line. On June 6, 2007, the Maple Leafs announced they had signed Antropov to a two-year contract extension. During a game against the New York Rangers on December 6, 2007, Antropov scored his second career hat-trick and was named the game's first star. In December 2007, a campaign was launched to encourage fans to vote Antropov as a write-in candidate for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game held in Atlanta.{{cite web|work=Oakley.com|title=Nik Antropov's biography|url=http://www.oakley.com/sports/hockey/athletes/406 |access-date=October 6, 2013}}
File:Nik Antropov.png in 2009.]]
On February 9, 2008, Antropov set a new career-high in goals with 19 when he scored in overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 3–2 win, tipping in an Anton Strålman slapshot; he finished the season with 26 goals. On March 4, 2009, Antropov was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for a second-round draft pick and conditional draft pick.{{cite web | title = Rangers trade for Antropov, Morris | work = ESPN.com | date = March 4, 2009 | url = https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=3952538 | access-date = March 4, 2009}}
On July 2, 2009, Antropov signed a four-year, $16.25 million deal with the Atlanta Thrashers as a free agent. He was expected to make $3.5 million the first year, $3.75 million the second, $4.25 million the third and $4.75 million for the final year of the deal for an average cap hit of $4.0625 million per year.{{cite news | url=http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=ATL&season=0910 | title=Team Overview: Atlanta Thrashers | access-date=2009-07-09 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715143924/http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=ATL&season=0910 | archive-date=July 15, 2009 | df=mdy-all }} Antropov's first year with the Thrashers was his most successful, scoring 24 goals and 43 assists. Following the team's relocation to Winnipeg in the summer of 2011, Antropov had scored the first goal of the new Winnipeg Jets on October 9, 2011, against the Montreal Canadiens.
On August 8, 2013, Antropov signed a two-year contract with Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), where he played during 2012–13 NHL lockout.{{cite web|work=CBC Sports|title=Nik Antropov inks 2-year deal with KHL club|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nik-antropov-inks-2-year-deal-with-khl-club-1.1388896?cmp=rss |date=August 8, 2013|access-date=August 9, 2013}} At the conclusion of his two-year tenure with Barys, Antropov retired from professional hockey and returned to Canada.{{cite web|work=KHL.ru|title=Nikolai Antropov's KHL Profile|url=http://en.khl.ru/players/13162/ |access-date=October 6, 2013}}
International play
{{MedalTableTop|name=}}
{{MedalCountry|{{KAZ}}}}
{{MedalSport|Ice hockey}}
{{MedalCompetition|Asian Games}}
{{MedalGold | 1999 Gangwon|}}
{{MedalBottom}}
Internationally, Antropov represented Kazakhstan in the 1998 IIHF World Championship, the 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (scoring eight points in six games) and in the 2006 Winter Olympics, where he scored one goal. Antropov captained the Kazakhstani squad on both occasions. He and Colorado Avalanche goaltender Vitali Kolesnik were the lone NHL players on the team.
Personal life
During his tenure with the Leafs, Antropov became a Canadian citizen. He received Canadian citizenship in May 2007.{{cite web|work=FaceOff.com|author=Joe O’Connor|title=Mixed emotions for N.Y.-bound Antropov|url=http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/tradedeadline2009/story.html?id=1353375 |date=March 4, 2009|access-date=October 6, 2013}}
Antropov and his wife have three children. Antropov's oldest son, Danil was a forward for the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League during the 2019-20 season.{{cite web|work=thehockeynews.com|author=Dhiren Mahiban|title=NIK ANTROPOV TURNS HOCKEY DAD AS SON PLAYS DEBUT OHL SEASON|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/nik-antropov-turns-hockey-dad-as-son-plays-debut-ohl-season |date=March 20, 2017|access-date=May 25, 2018}}
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||||||
| 1996–97
| RUS.2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997–98 | Torpedo Ust–Kamenogorsk | RUS.2 | 42 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 62
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997–98
| Torpedo–2 Ust–Kamenogorsk | RUS.3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1998–99 | RSL | 30 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 30
| 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1999–2000
| NHL | 66 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 41
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2000–01
| Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 52 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 30
| 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2001–02 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2001–02
| St. John's Maple Leafs | AHL | 34 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 47
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2002–03 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 72 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 124
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003–04
| Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 62
| 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2004–05 | RSL | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004–05
| RSL | 26 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 44
| 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2005–06 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 57 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 56
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2006–07
| Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 54 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 44
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2007–08 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 72 | 26 | 30 | 56 | 92
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008–09
| Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 63 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 24
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008–09 | NHL | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2009–10
| NHL | 76 | 24 | 43 | 67 | 44
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2010–11 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 76 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 42
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2011–12
| NHL | 69 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 42
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2012–13 | KHL | 26 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 39
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012–13
| Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 40 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 16
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2013–14 | Barys Astana | KHL | 36 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 62
| 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| 2014–15
| Barys Astana | KHL | 39 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 64
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 788 !! 193 !! 272 !! 465 !! 627 ! 35 !! 4 !! 4 !! 8 !! 40 | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | KHL totals ! 101 !! 18 !! 46 !! 64 !! 165 ! 17 !! 1 !! 4 !! 5 !! 16 |
=International=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em" | ||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="102" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||
| 1997
| AJC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997 | WJC B | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1998
| Kazakhstan | WJC | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1998 | Kazakhstan | EJC D | 5 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 6 |
| 1998
| WC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999 | Kazakhstan | WJC | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 2006
| Kazakhstan | OG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2014 | Kazakhstan | WC | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 29 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Junior totals ! 27 !! 28 !! 43 !! 71 !! 46 | ||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals ! 14 !! 2 !! 5 !! 7 !! 37 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Ice hockey stats}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-ach}}
{{succession box | before = Jeff Ware | title = Toronto Maple Leafs first round draft pick | years = 1998 | after = Luca Cereda}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antropov, Nik}}
Category:Ak Bars Kazan players
Category:Atlanta Thrashers players
Category:Asian Games gold medalists for Kazakhstan
Category:Asian Games medalists in ice hockey
Category:Canadian ice hockey centres
Category:Canadian people of Russian descent
Category:HC Dynamo Moscow players
Category:Ice hockey players at the 1999 Asian Winter Games
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Category:Kazakhstani emigrants to Canada
Category:Kazakhstani people of Russian descent
Category:Kazakhstani expatriate ice hockey people
Category:Kazzinc-Torpedo players
Category:Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players
Category:Medalists at the 1999 Asian Winter Games
Category:NHL first-round draft picks
Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada
Category:New York Rangers players
Category:Olympic ice hockey players for Kazakhstan
Category:Ice hockey people from Oskemen
Category:St. John's Maple Leafs players
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players
Category:Winnipeg Jets players