Denis Arkhipov
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Denis Arkhipov (born May 19 1979, in Kazan, USSR) is a professional hockey player.
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Playing Career
Arkhipov was selected 60th overall, in the 3rd round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He was selected as the 2nd choice of the Nashville Predators.
He made his NHL debut on January 8, 2001 in a 1-2 loss against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver. During this game he notched his first NHL point when he got an assist on a Richard Litner goal against Bob Essena.
Two days later he scored his first NHL goal in a 5-2 win at the Edmonton Oilers. He scored when he took a Scott Hartnell pass and got it past Tommy Salo. He also got an assist on a Marian Cisar goal to make this his first ever NHL multi-point game.
Probably his best season was the 2001-02 NHL season when he played in all 82 games. That season he scored 20 goals and 22 assists for a career high 42 points. He led the Predators in goals, game winning goals (6) and shooting percentage (16.9%). That year he centered the "Vowel Line" which also included, Vladimir Orszagh on right wing, and Martin Erat at left wing. They were called the "Vowel Line" because their last names were often difficult for many announcers to pronounce and all start with vowels. Even though he had a good offensive touch, he needed to work more on his defensive play as he was -18 on the season.
The next year his goal numbers dropped to 11 but he did increase his assists to 24. This was considered to be a disappointment for many fans as most people thought that he had significantly more potential that he was not using. Coupled with the reduction of offensive output was the notable fact that he did not significantly improve his defensive play as he mirrored the previous season's -18 in the plus/minus category.
The 2003-04 NHL season was a real dissapointment. He scored only 9 goals and 12 assists on the season. Toward the end of the season he found himself being scratched more and more. His defensive play did improve as he managed a -2 plus/minus on the year. This was the first year that the Predators made the post season and Arkhipov did not play in a single post season game being scratched for all five games against the Detroit Red Wings. At the end of the year trade rumor began circulating and coach Barry Trotz made it clear in the media that Arkhipov had only one chance left, and that was to come back to training camp for the next season in the best shape of his life.
Records
Youngest player in Predator's franchise history to score 20 goals.
Career Statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
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| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1997-98 | Kazan Ak-Bars | Russia | 29 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Kazan Ak-Bars | Russia | 34 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1999-00 | Kazan Ak-Bars | Russia | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Milwaukee Admirals | IHL | 40 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 11 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 40 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 82 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 79 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 32 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 72 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
International Play
Arkhipov played for Russia in the 1999 World Junior Championships. He also played for his country in the 2003 IIHF World Championships in Finland.