Vitalij Aab

{{Infobox ice hockey player

|name = Vitalij Aab

|image = Vitalij Aab.jpg

| image_size = 230px

|caption =

|position = Wing

|shoots = Right

|height_ft = 6

|height_in = 2

|weight_lb = 198

|team = Höchstadter EC

|league = Oberliga

|former_teams = Nürnberg Ice Tigers
Adler Mannheim
Iserlohn Roosters
Hamburg Freezers

|ntl_team = GER

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|11|14|mf=y}}

|birth_place = Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union

|draft =

|draft_year =

|draft_team =

|career_start = 1997

|career_end =

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.hockeyweb.de/static/spielerportraits/aab_vitalij.htm|title=Vitalij Aab profile|website=Hockeyweb.de|date=2010-05-11|accessdate=2010-05-11|language=German|archivedate=2007-12-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219224955/http://www.hockeyweb.de/static/spielerportraits/aab_vitalij.htm|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|language=German|website=abendblatt.de|date=2006-05-09 |url=http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2008/09/26/943403.html|title=Vitalij Aab: Forward joins the Freezers|accessdate=2010-05-11}}

Aab returned to the Ice Tigers, now known at that time as the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.icetigers.de/ICETIGERS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=518:vitalij-aab-kehrt-nach-nuernberg-zurueck&catid=1:aktuelle-nachrichten&Itemid=76|title=Vitalij Aab returns to Nürnberg|publisher=Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers|language=German|date=2010-05-11|accessdate=2010-05-11|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226201047/http://www.icetigers.de/ICETIGERS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=518:vitalij-aab-kehrt-nach-nuernberg-zurueck&catid=1:aktuelle-nachrichten&Itemid=76|archivedate=2010-12-26|url-status=dead}}