Andrei Mezin

Andrei Mezin
Born (1974-07-08) 8 July 1974 (age 50)
Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 173 lb (78 kg; 12 st 5 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
KHL team Traktor Chelyabinsk
National team  Belarus
Playing career 1993–2014

Andrei Anatolyevich Miezin (Belarusian: Андрэй Анатольевiч Мезiн, Russian: Андрей Анатольевич Мезин; born 8 July 1974) is a Belarusian ice hockey coach and a retired goaltender.

Playing career

Mezin left his native Belarus in 1993 to head to North America and would spend five seasons playing in different leagues, including the American Hockey League, the International Hockey League and the United Hockey League. From 1998 to 2002, he played in Germany: one year with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers and three with the Berlin Capitals. He then played in Russia and the Czech Republic. Starting 2008, he spent time with KHL teams HC Dinamo Minsk, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Traktor Chelyabinsk and Avangard Omsk.

Mezin gained international attention in 2002 as a member of the Belarus national men's ice hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Despite not winning a game in the Group D round robin, Belarus beat the Sweden national men's ice hockey team in the quarterfinals. Mezin was stellar, holding a star-laden Swedish team to three goals on more than 50 shots. The game was won by Belarus late in the third on a long shot gaffe made by Tommy Salo in the Swedish net. Belarus ended up finishing in fourth place after losing to Canada in the semifinals. Mezin has represented the Belarus national team at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Games and played several World Championships.

On 1 October 2008 Mezin and Metallurg Magnitogorsk faced the New York Rangers of the NHL in the inaugural Victoria Cup. Mezin stopped 40 out of 44 shots, playing a very respectable game in the 4–3 loss.[1]

Mezin retired in 2014.

Coaching career

He has been serving as goaltender coach of HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) since 2016.

Off the ice

In the offseason, Mezin lives in Kyiv, Ukraine.[2]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% Pts PIM GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% Pts PIM
1993–94 Roanoke Express ECHL 1 0 1 0 18 1 0 3.28 0.667 0 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1995–96 Flint Generals CoHL 40 27 9 2 2270 132 1 3.49 0.883 1 2 7 5 1 410 18 1 2.64 0.903 0 0
1995–96 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 1 ? ? ? 35 1 0 1.72 0.958 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1996–97 Flint Generals CoHL 25 19 4 1 1416 58 2 2.46 0.902 0 8 4 0 2 175 13 0 4.46 ? 0 0
1996–97 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 10 4 5 0 490 33 0 4.04 0.883 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1996–97 Rochester Americans AHL 7 3 3 1 386 31 0 4.82 0.843 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1997–98 Flint Generals UHL 27 21 5 0 1488 86 1 3.47 0.885 2 4 8 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 2
1997–98 Detroit Vipers IHL 4 2 1 0 178 8 0 2.69 0.852 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1998–99 Nürnberg Ice Tigers DEL 49 ? ? ? 2856 124 5 2.60 0.900 2 32 13 ? ? 765 31 0 2.43 0.908 0 27
1999–00 Berlin Capitals DEL 53 ? ? ? 2979 138 4 2.78 0.896 2 72 7 ? ? 422 23 0 3.27 0.908 1 0
2000–01 Berlin Capitals DEL 56 ? ? ? 3220 148 3 2.76 0.907 4 26 5 ? ? 300 17 0 3.40 0.890 0 12
2001–02 Berlin Capitals DEL 54 ? ? ? 3147 166 4 3.16 0.893 3 58 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2001–02 Berlin Capitals DEL - Abstiegsrunde 6 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3.17 0.894 0 0 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
2002–03 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2003–04 HC České Budějovice CzEx 15 4 9 2 805 40 1 2.98 0.904 0 12 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2003–04 HC České Budějovice 1.liga (CZE) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4 0 4 250 9 0 2.16 0.900 0 2
2004–05 SKA Saint Petersburg RSL 42 14 20 5 2328 100 2 2.58 0.910 0 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2005–06 Salavat Yulaev Ufa RSL 37 16 13 6 2118 68 2 1.93 0.925 2 10 6 3 3 354 16 0 2.71 0.902 0 0
2006–07 Salavat Yulaev Ufa RSL 19 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1.71 0.933 0 4 3 ? ? ? ? ? 1.83 0.923 0 0
2007–08 Metallurg Magnitogorsk RSL 35 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1.84 0.932 1 6 3 ? ? ? ? ? 2.67 0.892 0 0
2008–09 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 26 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2.82 0.896 0 0 6 ? ? ? ? ? 2.27 0.922 0 0
Russian Superleague totals 135 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 26 12 -- -- -- -- -- 2.40 -- 0 0
Deutsche Eishockey Liga totals 217 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.80 0.899 11 188 25 -- -- -- -- -- 3.03 0.902 1 39
International Hockey League totals 15 -- -- -- 703 42 2 2.82 0.898 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Colonial Hockey League totals 65 46 13 3 3686 190 3 2.98 0.93 1 10 12 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 0

Awards and honours

  • Belarus Player of the Year (1998, 1999, 2005, 2006)
  • All-Star Team (WC 2006, WC 2009)

References

  1. ^ Rangers rally to win Victoria Cup, Dan Rosen, NHL.com, October 1, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2009
  2. ^ "Esche replace Mezin in Minsk Dynamo". Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.