Evgeni Nabokov

National Hockey League all-star goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was born July 25, 1975 in Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. He grew up playing first in his home Kazakhstan, and them played 4 years for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Super League from 1994-1997. His father played 18 years in Kazakhstan, and his talents passed on to his son. Drafted by the San Jose Sharks, who never saw him play, the Sharks took Nabokov in the 9th round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. However, it wasn't until the 1999-2000 season that Nabokov saw his first NHL action. Evgeni Nabokov and his wife Tabitha have one daughter, Emily.

Starting in the 1997-98 season, Nabokov came to the United States to play for the Kentucky Thoroughblades in the American Hockey League. On January 1, 2000, he was called up to make his NHL debut with the Sharks. The following season he was given the starting goaltender job with the Sharks for the 2000-01 regular season. He had a highly successful rookie season, earning his first NHL All-Star Game selection and was selected for the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. He started 66 games that year, posting 32 wins and an impressive .915 save percentage.

Nabokov followed his rookie season with 37 wins the next year, and improved on his save percentage to .918. In 2003-04, he was even better, upping his save percentage to .921. Nabokov struggled for a few years around the NHL lockout, eventually having to share the starting goaltender duties with Vesa Toskala. However, he re-emerged as the Sharks go-to guy in 2007-08. The next three years he posted 46, 41, and 44 win seasons, posting a career high save percentage in 2009-10 (.922), and helping lead the Sharks to the 2010 Western Conference Finals.

Despite being born in Kazakhstan, Evgeni Nabokov has played his recent international games for Russia. After a long series of discussions, which left Nabokov ineligible to play in the 2002 Winter Olympics,http://news.bbc.co.uk/winterolympics2002/hi/english/ice_hockey/newsid_1795000/1795570.stm Nabokov was finally given the right to represent Russia for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Since then, he has also represented Russia in the 2008 World Championships and the 2010 Winter Olympics. While his Olympic experiences have not ended in success, Nabokov won a gold medal in 2008.

Kazakhstan

• 1994 World Championships

Russia

• 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2008 World Championships
• 2010 Winter Olympics