Alexei Ponikarovsky

Lore & Background

Ponikarovsky began his career with the Dynamo Moscow organization, playing with affiliates Dynamo-2 and Dynamo Jr. from 1995 to 1999, and became a regular fixture on the main club during the 1999–2000 season when Dynamo won the Russian Superleague championship. In the 2005–06 season, he put up career highs in goals, assists, points and penalty minutes, often playing with former Dynamo Moscow teammate Nik Antropov or Mats Sundin, and became a regular penalty-killer. He finished that season with four shorthanded goals, tying for eighth in the NHL. On 16 December 2006, he notched a career-high five points in Toronto's 9–2 victory over the New York Rangers, scoring two goals and three assists. Teammates commonly referred to him as 'The Poni Express', 'The Ukraine Train' or simply 'Poni'.

Reader's Guide

Ponikarovsky's NHL career spanned over a decade, with notable stints including a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins on 2 March 2010 in exchange for Luca Caputi and Martin Škoula, and a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings in July 2010. He signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2011, then was traded to the New Jersey Devils in January 2012, where he scored 18 points in 33 games and helped the Devils reach the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, scoring an overtime game winner in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers. On 1 July 2012, he signed as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets on a one-year, $1.8 million contract. Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, he signed a temporary contract with Ukrainian KHL club HC Donbass, scoring 18 points in 32 games. After scoring only 2 goals in 12 games with the Jets, he was traded back to the New Jersey Devils on 13 February 2013 for fourth- and seventh-round picks in the 2014 draft. He later returned to the KHL, signing a two-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg on 5 August 2013, reuniting with former Devils teammate Ilya Kovalchuk.

Did You Know?

• Ponikarovsky played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Kyiv.
• He became a Canadian citizen on 7 June 2007 in Etobicoke, Ontario.
• He favoured wearing the number 23 because two of his grandparents were born on the 23rd, along with his wife.
• He obtained additional Russian citizenship after signing with SKA Saint Petersburg.