Tampa Bay Lightning's Evgeny Artyukhin and His Hockey Career

Evgeny Artyukhin may be known for racking up the penalty minutes in the NHL, but his hockey career is dependent on much more than that. Evgeny Artyukhin was born in Moscow, Russia on April 4, 1983, making him twenty-six years old. At 6 feet 5 inches and 254 pounds, this right wing is not someone you want to be hit by. Evgeny Artyukhin's road to a professional hockey career started in his home country, Russia. In the 2000-2001 hockey season, Artyukhin played for the Vityaz Podosek in the RSL (Russian Super League). The RSL was the highest level of professional hockey in the country, and was considered to be the second best league in the world, after the NHL before it disbanded last year. Evgeny Artyukhin was drafted by the Tampay Bay Lightning in 2001, 94th overall.

After his time in the RSL, Evgeny Artyukhin moved to North America after being drafted. In the 2002-2003 season, Evgeny Artyukhin played with the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). The QMJHL is one of the three leagues that makes up the CHL (Canadian Hockey League), which is the best junior level hockey league in the country. After spending one season in the QMJHL, Evgeny Artyukhin moved on to the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League). The ECHL is a league very similar to the AHL (American Hockey League). It's main purpose is to serve as a developmental league for future NHL players and a feeder league for the NHL. Evgeny Artyukhin played with the Pensocola Ice Pilots while in the ECHL in the beginning of the 2003-2004 season.

Evgeny Artyukhin only played six games with the Pensocola Ice Pilots in the ECHL before being moved to the Hershey Bears, a team in the AHL. Artyukhin finished out the rest of the 2003-2004 season with the Hershey Bears. For the 2004-2005 season Evgeny Artyukhin remained in the AHL, but was moved to the Springfield Falcons. Artyukhin could not have been moved up to the NHL during this season because of the Lockout. Artyukhin started off the 2005-2006 season with the Springfield Falcons, but only played six games with them before being called up by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In the 2006-2007 season, Evgeny Artyukhin went back to Russia after it was reported that negotiations for a contract with Tampa Bay did not go his way. Artyukhin played for the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the RSL. At the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, Artyukhin was playing with the Avangard Omsk, another RSL team, but he finished out the season with the HC CKSA Moscow. After two seasons in the RSL, the Tampay Bay Lightning signed Evgeny Artyukhin to a two year deal, and he played the first year of that in the 2008-2009 season.

ref-www.nhl.com