Alexander Svitov

Alexander Nikolayevich Switow (Russian Александр Николаевич Свитов; born November 3, 1982 in Omsk, Russian SFSR ) is a Russian professional ice hockey player who plays for Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League since June 2013.

2.1 International

3.1 International

Career

Alexander Switow comes from the hockey school of HK Avangard Omsk. During the 1998/99 season he made his debut at the age of 15 years in the farm team of Omsk Avangard WDW. In only 27 games he scored 15 goals and 8 assists, so he was called for a playoff game in the Super League squad of Avangard. In the following season, he received more ice age in the first team and brought it in 19 games of the season on 6 points scorer. In parallel, he continued to play for Avangard WDW in Perwaja League, where he scored a total of 22 points scorer in 14 games.

During the 2000/ 01 season, he established himself permanently in the first team, where he stood out not only as a scorer, but also with his physical presence. In 32 games the main round he collected 111 penalty minutes, but also scored 12 points scorer. With Avangard he reached the playoff final, where his team defeated the HK Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2:4.

During the NHL Entry Draft 2001 Switow was selected in the first round in third place of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In August 2001 he signed a contract entry for the National Hockey League, which forbade him to continue to play in the Super League. He first came after the farm team Avangard WDW, which is under the Russian Air Force, for use. In October 2001 he was awarded Tampa's permission to return to play in the super league. Shortly before a Super League match in Moscow Switow, Kirill Koltzov and Stanislaw Tschistow were picked up and forced to start their military service by a unit of the Russian military police. In this context, the players Switow and Tschistow been delegated to HK CSKA Moscow, where they were used in a few games.

After completing his military service in summer 2002 Switow moved to North America. Here he made his debut in the season 2002/ 03 for Tampa in the NHL and could reach eight points in 63 games. During the 2003/ 04 season, he usually came at the Hamilton Bulldogs in the American Hockey League action and ran on only eleven NHL games for Tampa. In January 2004 he was released to the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Tampa received in return for Darryl Sydor and a right to vote for the NHL Entry Draft in 2004. For the Jackets, he completed until end of season on 29 NHL games in which he collected eight points scorer.

The lockout of the NHL season 2004/ 05 he spent at the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL and participated in the AHL All- Star Classic part. For the 2005/06 season he returned for one season in the Russian Super League for Avangard Omsk. With Avangard he reached the playoff finals in 2006, where his team Ak Bars Kazan defeated with 0:3. Switow contributed to the runner-up title with a total of 15 points scorer, but also collected 152 penalty minutes.

For the season 2006/ 07 he returned with a one-year contract with the Jackets in the National Hockey League back. In 76 games the main round he collected 18 points scorer and 145 penalty minutes for the Jackets, who missed the playoffs. Beginning of July 2007, signed Switow a new two-year contract over a million dollars per season with the Blue Jackets. Six weeks later, he signed another contract, this time with Avangard Omsk and a term of three years. Since there was no valid transfer agreement between Super League and NHL at this time, the NHL procured an international grounding in competitions of the IIHF for Switow and some other players.

In the following three seasons, he stood for Omsk in the Super League and its successor league KHL as team captain on the ice. He scored a season to 20 points scorer, but fell because of its many time penalties on. Beginning of July 2010 Switow was obliged Salavat Yulaev Ufa of. With his new team, he won the Gagarin Cup at the end of the 2010/11 season.

In June 2013 Switow was obliged by Ak Bars Kazan.

Internationally

Switow represented his country at the U18 World Junior Championship in 2000 and the U20 World Junior Championships in 2001 and 2002. During the Under-18 World Youth Championship Switow won the team silver medal and was eight points behind Yegor Schastin best scorer of the Russian team. After the Russians had occupied the seventh place in the U20 Junior World Championship 2001, they won the year after the Gold Medal. In both tournaments, the striker received the most penalty minutes of all players.

For the selection of seniors Sbornaja Switow came as part of the Euro Hockey Tour 2009/10 and 2010/11 to the first missions before he debuted at the Men 's World Cup 2012 for the national team and won the gold medal.

Awards and achievements

2001 Russian runner- HK Avangard Omsk with the
2003 NHL Young Stars Game
2005 AHL All- Star Classic
2006 Russian runner- HK Avangard Omsk with the
2011 Gagarin Cup win with Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Internationally

2000 Silver medal at the U18 World Youth Championship
2002 Gold medal at the U20 World Junior Championships
2012 Gold Medal at the World Championships

Career Stats

Internationally

Represented Russia at:

U18 Junior World Championship 2000
U20 Junior World Championship 2001
U20 Junior World Cup 2002

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )

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