Former Washington Capitals Forward Andrei Nikolishin Elected President Of The Moscow Ice Hockey Federation

Photo: All Hockey Russia

On Thursday, former Washington Capitals forward Andrei Nikolishin was elected unanimously as President of the Moscow Hockey Federation (FHM). The appointment was made as part of the Federation’s general meeting.

The previous President of the FHM, Sergei Mendeleev, stated that he was resigning his position before the end of his term. Thus, a new election was held among the 23 delegates that were present and Nikolishin was elected unanimously.

Photo: Sport24

Nikolishin commented on his appointment.

“The position of the President of the Moscow Ice Hockey Federation is honorable, but at the same time it imposes a high responsibility. I understand this and am fully prepared to fulfill all obligations. I hope that with the team that is successfully working in the FHM, we will jointly stay on course, continue to improve Moscow hockey, educate new generations of boys and girls. I want hockey to become the most popular, massive, in-demand, and successful sport in the capital.”

Nikolishin played for the Capitals from 1996-97 through 2001-02. He was acquired from the Hartford Whalers on November 8, 1996, in exchange for Curtis Leschyshyn. The Capitals traded Nikolishin, along with Chris Simon, in exchange for Michael Nylander and a 2003 third-round draft pick, to the Chicago Blackhawks on November 1, 2002.

Nikolishin played 407 games for the Capitals, scoring 58 goals and 113 assists for 174 points. His best years with the Capitals were in 2000-01 and 2001-02 where he had 13 goals and 25 assists in 2000-01 and 13 goals and 23 assists in 2001-02.

Nikolishin was initially drafted by the Whalers in the second round (pick #47) of the 1992 Entry Draft. He also played for the Chicago Blackhawks and ended his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche in 2003-04, when the NHL lockout took place. His totals for the NHL included 628 games played, 93 goals, and 187 assists for 280 points.

When the NHL lockout took place, Nikolishin continued his career in Russia for seven seasons, first with the Russian Super League and then with the KHL, and was the Captain of Traktor Chelyabinsk during his last four seasons in Russia. He played one last year of professional hockey in 2011-12 for Kiev in the Ukrainian Hockey League before ending his playing career.

Nikolishin became Head Coach of Chelyabinsk for the 2014-15 season and was fired early in the 2015-16 season. After that, he finished the 2015-16 season as Head Coach of Amur Khaborovsk. He then became a scout for the Chicago Blackhawks starting in 2016-17 and remained in that role through the 2021-22 season.

By Diane Doyle

1 Response to Former Washington Capitals Forward Andrei Nikolishin Elected President Of The Moscow Ice Hockey Federation

steven says:

September 30, 2022 at 10:16 am

I often wonder how Andrei would have finished his career here if he had not been traded as Nylander had 1 good year here out of the 4 and the resigning him after trading him to Boston for a decent haul was really a bad move. Good to see that Andrei has a great post hockey playing career!!

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