Mikhail Grabovski Explained

Mikhail Grabovski
Position:Centre
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:185
Played For:Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Dynamo Moscow
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
CSKA Moscow
Washington Capitals
New York Islanders
League:NHL
Ntl Team:BLR
Birth Date:1984 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Potsdam, East Germany
Career Start:2003
Career End:2016
Draft:150th overall
Draft Year:2004
Draft Team:Montreal Canadiens

Mikhail Yuryevich Hrabowski (Belarusian: Міхаіл Юр'евiч Грабоўскі; born 31 January 1984), better known as Mikhail Grabovski (Russian: Михаил Грабовский), is a German-born Belarusian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Grabovski currently serves as an assistant coach for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[1] Prior to his coaching career, Grabovski played as a centre in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 10 seasons.

Early life

Grabovski was born in Potsdam, East Germany, where his father, Yury, worked in construction for the Soviet military. The family returned to their native Belarus (then a Soviet Socialist Republic) when he was three years old.

Playing career

Grabovski was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 150th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and played his first NHL game with Montreal on 6 January 2007 against the New York Rangers. He played three games in the NHL before being sent back down to Montreal's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. He helped them win the Calder Cup as AHL champions in the 2006–07 season. Grabovski was called up to play in a few games with the Canadiens during the 2007–08 season but did not see much playing time due to his low position on the team's depth chart. Grabovski recorded his first NHL assist on 20 October 2007, against the Buffalo Sabres and his first goal two days later against the Boston Bruins.

On 3 July 2008, Grabovski was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the draft rights to Greg Pateryn and a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. As a 25-year-old, Grabovski went on to finish his first full season in Toronto with 20 goals and 48 points, leading all NHL Eastern Conference rookies in scoring. The Maple Leafs rewarded Grabovski for his rookie season performance by re-signing him to a three-year, $8.7 million contract carrying an average annual cap hit of $2.9 million.[2] His 58 points in the 2010–11 season was the highest among Maple Leaf centres since Mats Sundin's 78 points in the 2007–08 season. On 6 March 2012, Toronto re-signed Grabovski to a five-year, $27.5 million contract carrying an average annual cap hit of $5.5 million.[3]

On 25 September 2012, due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout that cancelled the first three months of the 2012–13 NHL season, Grabovski signed with CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[4] When NHL play returned, following a 2012–13 season in which he recorded only 9 goals and 16 points in 48 games, on 4 July 2013, Grabovski was unexpectedly placed on waivers and listed to be bought-out by the Maple Leafs.[5]

On 23 August 2013, as a free agent following his buy-out, Grabovski signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Washington Capitals.[6] In his first regular season game with the Capitals on 1 October 2013, Grabovski scored a hat-trick in a 6–4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.[7] Grabovski completed the 2013–14 season with a respectable 35 points in 58 games as the Capitals failed to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.

On 2 July 2014, as a free agent, Grabovski signed a four-year, $20 million contract with the New York Islanders.[8] His tenure with the Islanders was largely affected by injury, with a lingering concussion ruling him out for the entirety of the 2016–17 season. Grabovski joined the Islanders along with his Maple Leafs linemate and friend Nikolay Kulemin, making it known to teams during free agency that they wanted to sign together.

On 21 June 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights selected Jean-François Bérubé from the Islanders in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.[9] Bérubé was selected with the condition that Grabovski's final year of contract be traded to the Golden Knights along with a first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and prospect Jake Bischoff.[10] On 14 September 2017, Grabovski attended his physical for the Vegas Golden Knights with the desire to play for the team.[11] However, he did not appear in a single game for the Golden Knights.

In June 2019, Grabovski announced his retirement, stating "I decided for myself that staying at home is not the best option. I need to do something. As a player I can no longer participate in games, so I want to try myself as a coach."[12]

Coaching career

On June 15, 2019, Grabovski was announced as an assistant coach with HC Dinamo Minsk of the KHL.

Controversies

In March 2008, after being a healthy scratch for a game against the Phoenix Coyotes, Grabovski left the Montreal Canadiens and flew to Los Angeles to consult with his agent. The incident prompted his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs that summer.[13]

In January 2009, Grabovski was involved a scuffle with fellow Belarusian Sergei Kostitsyn during a game between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. The two had been in a feud since Grabovski's days with the Canadiens. Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the head of the Belarusian national hockey program had to intervene in order for the two players to be able to coexist on the same team.

In 2010 Grabovski was sued for allegedly punching a woman in the face and hospitalizing a man.[14]

Grabovski inadvertently ended Chris Pronger's career when he accidentally hit him in the side of the eye with his stick.[15]

On 9 February 2013, Grabovski was accused of biting Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens during a scrum along the boards. The NHL conducted a telephone hearing with the players involved, but could not determine conclusively if Grabovski had indeed bitten Pacioretty.[16] However, on 20 May 2013, more than three months later, Grabovski admitted that he did bite Pacioretty, stating in an interview, "He was choking me and I bit him. Don't stick your hands where you shouldn't."[17]

On 3 July 2013, after learning that his contract was being bought-out by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Grabovski was very critical of Toronto's head coach at the time, Randy Carlyle, in an expletive-filled interview with TSN. "I play in the fucking Russian KHL, I make lots of fucking points and what's going to happen? He make me fucking play on the fourth line and he put me in the playoffs on the fourth line and third line again," said Grabovski. "I don't feel any support from this fucking idiot."[18]

International play

Grabovski has represented Belarus in international play. He scored four goals and was the first star in one game (against tournament hosts Austria) in the 2005 IIHF World Championship. Grabovski was selected to play for his country at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[19] However, he did not play due to injury.[20] However, a few months later, he participated in the 2010 IIHF World Championship for Belarus.[21] Grabovski was named captain of Belarus's roster on the eve of 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.[22] In total, Grabovski has played in seven major international tournaments for Belarus.

Personal life

Grabovski and his wife Kate Van Alstyne had their first child, a daughter, on 30 December 2010.[23] He missed the Maple Leafs' game against the Columbus Blue Jackets that night to be present at the birth. They had their second child, a son, on 6 December 2011.[24] Grabovski and his wife called their son Jaeger after The Rolling Stones frontman Mick jaeger.[25] A third child was born 13 December 2017 named Charlie.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2000–01Yunost MinskBLR6 1 3 4 0
2001–02Yunost MinskBLR24 9 6 15 162 1 1 2 0
2002–03Yunost MinskBLR42 14 22 36 22
2002–03Yunost Minsk IIBLR II10 16 12 28 2
2003–04Neftekhimik NizhnekamskRSL45611172650004
2004–05Neftekhimik NizhnekamskRSL601620363232022
2004–05Yunost MinskBLR5 2 4 6 6
2005–06Dynamo MoscowRSL481017282840004
2005–06Yunost MinskBLR8 6 8 14 8
2006–07Hamilton BulldogsAHL661737543420471121
2006–07Montreal CanadiensNHL30000
2007–08Hamilton BulldogsAHL12812206
2007–08Montreal CanadiensNHL243698
2008–09Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7820284892
2009–10Toronto Maple LeafsNHL5910253510
2010–11Toronto Maple LeafsNHL8129295860
2011–12Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7423285151
2012–13CSKA MoscowKHL2912122410
2012–13Toronto Maple LeafsNHL4897162470222
2013–14Washington CapitalsNHL5813223526
2014–15New York IslandersNHL5191019830000
2015–16New York IslandersNHL589162533
BLR totals7224315538159132214
RSL totals153324880861220210
NHL totals534125171296312100222

International

YearTeamEventResult GPGAPtsPIM
2002BelarusWJC9th60112
2002BelarusWJC185th82132
2003BelarusWJC10th62022
2004BelarusWJC D111th54590
2004BelarusWC D118th52138
2005BelarusOGQDNQ343710
2005BelarusWC10th64152
2006BelarusWC6th75492
2008BelarusWC9th50330
2009BelarusWC8th73692
2010BelarusWC10th60336
2011BelarusWC14th62242
2012BelarusWC14th71344
2014BelarusWC7th64480
Junior totals2587156
Senior totals5825305536

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Woodcroft and former Islander take over Dinamo Minsk's bench . hockeybuzz.com . 2019-06-15 . 2019-06-18.
  2. Web site: Maple Leafs re-sign Grabovski to three-year, $8.7M deal . Tsn.ca . 2012-03-02.
  3. Web site: Maple Leafs re-sign Grabovski to five-year, $27.5M deal . 6 March 2012 . NBC Sports . 2012-03-06.
  4. Web site: Leafs' Grabovski signs with CSKA . Toronto Sun . 2012-09-25 . 2012-11-15.
  5. Web site: Mikhail Grabovski to be bought-out . MapleLeafHotStove.com . 2013-07-04 . 2013-07-04.
  6. Web site: Capitals sign Grabovski to one-year $3 million deal . . 2013-08-23 . 2013-08-23.
  7. Web site: Capitals lose high scoring game to Blackhawks . . 2013-10-01 . 2013-10-02.
  8. Web site: Islanders agree to terms with Grabovski . . 2014-07-02 . 2014-07-02.
  9. Web site: Pinchevsky. Tal. Vegas Golden Knights Focus on Defense in N.H.L. Expansion Draft. The New York Times. 22 June 2017. 22 June 2017.
  10. Web site: Islanders lose Berube, trade No.1 Pick to Vegas in expansion draft . . 2017-06-21 . 2017-06-21.
  11. Web site: Mikhail Wants To Play This Year . prohockeyrumors.com . 2017-09-14 . 2018-12-30.
  12. Web site: Grabovski has officially announced his retirement. . Kalniņš, Aivis . 2019-06-17 . 2019-06-18.
  13. News: Zwolinski, Mark . 10 February 2012 . Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski attributes trade from Habs to inexperience . The Toronto Star . 21 May 2013.
  14. Web site: Reporter . Mark Zwolinski Sports . 2010-09-21 . Grabovski on assault lawsuit? No comment . 2024-05-03 . Toronto Star . en.
  15. Web site: Grabovski remorseful over Pronger incident . 9 February 2012 .
  16. Web site: Mikhail Grabovski won't be suspended for allegedly biting Canadiens' Pacioretty . . 2013-02-09 . 2013-02-09.
  17. Web site: Mikhail Grabovski on biting Max Pacioretty; his disappointing Leafs postseason; losing Game 7 . . 2013-05-20 . 2013-05-02.
  18. News: Traikos, Michael . 4 July 2013 . Mikhail Grabovski rips Leafs' coach Randy Carlyle after buyout . . dead . 13 July 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131001193453/http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/07/04/leafs-wipe-the-slate-clean-with-mikhail-grabovski-buyout/ . 1 October 2013 .
  19. Web site: Grabovski grabs Oly. spot. https://archive.today/20120719065051/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2010Vancouver/News/2009/12/23/12252741-qmi.html?cid=rsssportsolympics. usurped. 19 July 2012. Longley. Rob. Canaoe.ca. 23 December 2009.
  20. Web site: Terry Koshan . Leafs' Olympians get the itch | Hockey | Sports . Toronto Sun . 2012-03-02.
  21. Book: IIHF. IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. 2010 . Moydart Press . 181. 978-0-9867964-0-1.
  22. Web site: Grabovski named captain of Belarus at world championship . Tsn.ca . 2012-03-02.
  23. News: Baby first for Grabovski. Toronto Sun. 2010-12-30. 2010-12-31. Hornby. Lance.
  24. News: Siegel: Change coming to ailing Leafs penalty kill . Jonas . Siegel . TSN . 11 December 2011 .
  25. Web site: Mikhail Grabovski Still battling Concussion. 18 January 2017. The Hockey Writers.