A former Stanley Cup Champion has decided he has little more left in the tank.
It was announced on Wednesday that goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is signing with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Khabibulin, 50, signed on to be the team’s third goaltender for the remainder of the season, joining former New York Ranger prospect Adam Huska, and former American Hockey League netminder Ivan Kulbakov.
The Russian-born netminder has not played in a professional game since Nov. 16, 2013, while as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. He will be turning 51 next month.
Khabibulin spent 18 years in the NHL, playing for the Winnipeg Jets (who became the Phoenix Coyotes), Tampa Bay Lightning, Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers. In 799 games, he posted a 333-334-97 record with a 2.72 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, and 46 shutouts. Khabibulin was also to the Western All-Star team four times.
He posted a 39-31 record in the playoffs, registering a 2.40 GAA and .917 SV%, with six more shutouts.
Khabibulin is most remembered for backstopping the Lightning to their first Stanley Cup in 2004 (though many in Calgary dispute that fact). He was also a member of the Unified Team that captured gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics, having won World Juniors gold earlier in the year. The former Long Beach Ice Dog also earned a bronze medal with Russia in Salt Lake City in 2002.
This will be the first time the “Bulin Wall” has been on a Russian pro team since playing with Ak Bars Kazan during the 2004-05 lockout.
Torpedo is currently third in the Bobrov Division, 28 points behind first-place Spartak Moscow. Spartak made news recently after signing 40-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk, who scored his first goal in two years in his debut with the team on Christmas Eve.
Khabibulin, Kovalchuk and the ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr are among many older, former NHLers still kicking around the European pro ranks.
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