Vitali Prokhorov

Vitali Prokhorov
Position	Left Wing
Height Weight	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg)
Teams	Spartak Moscow St. Louis Blues Färjestads BK HC Davos CSKA Moscow Ak Bars Kazan Metallurg Magnitogorsk Lada Togliatti Vityaz Podolsk Khimik Voskresensk
Born	(1966-12-25)December 25, 1966, Moscow, Soviet Union
NHL Draft	64th overall, 1992 St. Louis Blues
Pro Career	1983 – 2002

Vitali Vladimirovich Prokhorov (born December 25, 1966 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a retired professional hockey player who played briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. He played left wing and shot left-handed.

Prokhorov began his playing career in his native USSR. He played for Spartak Moscow for 9 seasons from 1983 until 1992. He also played for the USSR in the 1991 Canada Cup and for Russia in the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Ice Hockey World Championship. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union many Russian players attempted to come to North America to play in the NHL. Prokhorov was no exception, and he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round, 64th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He along with Vitali Karamnov and Igor Korolev created a "Moscow Express Line" that was expected to bring a big scoring punch to the Blues.

For the 1992–1993 season however things did not go well for Prokhorov. After a slow start, Prokhorov suffered a shoulder injury that limited him to only 26 games the whole year. He did have a bright spot during the season however when he scored a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 31, 1992. After starting the 1993–1994 season with the Peoria Rivermen Prokhorov played 55 games with the Blues, scoring 25 points. The following season Prokhorov played 20 games with the Rivermen and only 2 games with the Blues before being released.

Following his stint in the NHL Prokhorov played the 1995–1996 season in Sweden and 4 more seasons in Russia before retiring from hockey in 2001.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983–84	Spartak Moscow	USSR		5	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Spartak Moscow	USSR		31	1	1	2	10		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Spartak Moscow	USSR		29	3	9	12	4		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Spartak Moscow	USSR		27	1	6	7	2		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Spartak Moscow	USSR		19	5	0	5	4		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Spartak Moscow	USSR		37	11	5	16	10		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Spartak Moscow	USSR		43	13	8	21	35		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Spartak Moscow	USSR		43	21	10	31	29		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Spartak Moscow	CIS		32	12	16	28	54		6	1	3	4	14
1992–93	St. Louis Blues	NHL		26	4	1	5	15		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	St. Louis Blues	NHL		55	15	10	25	20		4	0	0	0	0
1993–94	Peoria Rivermen	IHL		19	13	10	23	16		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Spartak Moscow	IHL		8	1	4	5	8		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	St. Louis Blues	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Peoria Rivermen	IHL		20	6	3	9	6		9	4	7	11	6
1995–96	Färjestads BK	SEL		37	7	11	18	61		8	2	0	2	31
1997–98	Spartak Moscow	RSL		46	21	14	35	92		4	2	1	3	12
1998–99	HC Davos	NLA		3	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	CSKA Moscow	RSL		12	5	5	10	22		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Ak Bars Kazan	RSL		16	2	4	6	8		9	2	1	3	27
1999–2000	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	RSL		20	8	11	19	8		12	5	4	9	2
2000–01	Lada Togliatti	RSL		14	2	4	6	8		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Vityaz Podolsk	RSL		24	5	9	14	52		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Khimik Voskresensk	RUS-2		32	10	8	18	30		—	—	—	—	—
NHL Totals				83	19	11	30	35		4	0	0	0	0

International statistics

Year	Team	Comp	Place	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991	Soviet Union	CC	5th	5	1	2	3	4
1992	Unified Team	Oly	1	8	2	4	6	6
1992	CIS	WC	5th	6	0	3	3	4
1998	Russia	WC	5th	6	0	1	1	0
Senior Int'l Totals				25	3	10	13	14

External links

• Vitali Prokhorov's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Vitali Prokhorov's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Vitali Prokhorov's NHL player profile
• Vitali Prokhorov - player profile and career stats at European Hockey.Net