Kaspars Astašenko (17 February 1975[1] – 20 November 2012) was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Astašenko was born in Riga, Latvia. Astašenko was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 127th overall. Astašenko played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League with the Lightning.
| Kaspars Astašenko | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
17 February 1975 Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union | ||
| Died |
20 November 2012 (aged 37) Riga, Latvia | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 206 lb (93 kg; 14 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
HK Pārdaugava Rīga HC CSKA Moscow Tampa Bay Lightning Ilves HPK HC Slovan Bratislava Ritten Sport Beibarys Atyrau Belfast Giants | ||
| National team |
 Latvia | ||
| NHL draft |
127th overall, 1999 Tampa Bay Lightning | ||
| Playing career | 1993–2012 | ||
Playing career
editJunior
editAstašenko began his career in his native Riga with HK Pārdaugava Rīga, competing in both the Latvian top league and later to Russian Superleague before signing with Russian club, HC CSKA Moscow in 1995.
North America
editIn 1998, Astašenko signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League. After a stint with the Cyclones, Astašenko was surprisingly drafted by Tampa Bay and went on to play 23 regular games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Lightning as well as playing for the IHL's Detroit Vipers and Long Beach Ice Dogs. He later played in the American Hockey League for the Springfield Falcons and the Lowell Lock Monsters.
Europe
editHe would return to Europe in 2003, with stops at Finland's SM-liiga with Ilves and HPK, back in Russia with Khimik Voskresensk, the Slovak Extraliga with HC Slovan Bratislava, Ritten Sport of Italy's Serie A and the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League for the Belfast Giants as well as brief spells in his native Latvia and the lower leagues in Finland.[2]
International play
editAstašenko played for the Latvian national team in the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2001 and 2006, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.[2]
Personal life
editIn 2003, Astašenko was arrested for possession of heroin in the United States, effectively ending his North American career. After suffering from various addictions, Astašenko died on 20 November 2012.[3][4][5]
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991–92 | HK Cesis Vendenieki | LAT | 12 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1991–92 | RASMS Rīga | CIS-3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1992–93 | Pārdaugava Rīga | LAT | 20 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1993–94 | Pārdaugava Rīga | RUS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1993–94 | Hokeja Centrs Rīga | LAT | 21 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1994–95 | Pārdaugava Rīga | RUS | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1994–95 | Pārdaugava–2 Rīga | LAT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1995–96 | CSKA Moscow | RUS | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1995–96 | CSKA–2 Moscow | RUS-2 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1996–97 | CSKA Moscow | RSL | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1997–98 | CSKA Moscow | RSL | 25 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1998–99 | Cincinnati Cyclones | IHL | 74 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 166 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1998–99 | Dayton Bombers | ECHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1999–00 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1999–00 | Detroit Vipers | IHL | 51 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 86 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1999–00 | Long Beach Ice Dogs | IHL | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000–01 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000–01 | Detroit Vipers | IHL | 51 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2001–02 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2001–02 | Lowell Lock Monsters | AHL | 37 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2002–03 | Lowell Lock Monsters | AHL | 47 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 60 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2003–04 | HK Rīga 2000 | LAT | 11 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2003–04 | Ilves | SM-l | 23 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 60 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2004–05 | Esbjerg IK | DEN | 24 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 71 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2004–05 | ASK/Ogre | LAT | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2005–06 | Khimik Voskresensk | RUS-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2005–06 | Khimik–2 Voskresensk | RUS-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2005–06 | HPK | SM-l | 28 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 112 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 49 | ||
| 2006–07 | HC Slovan Bratislava | SVK | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 59 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2006–07 | ASK/Ogre | LAT | 17 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 46 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2007–08 | Ritten Sport | ITA | 29 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 76 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 36 | ||
| 2008–09 | Ritten Sport | ITA | 41 | 10 | 34 | 44 | 128 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2010–11 | Beibarys Atyrau | KAZ | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2010–11 | Belfast Giants | EIHL | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2011–12 | HK SMScredit | LAT | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2011–12 | Muik Hockey | FIN-4 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| LAT totals | 84 | 36 | 45 | 81 | 144 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 14 | ||||
| IHL totals | 190 | 10 | 34 | 44 | 320 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| NHL totals | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Latvia | EJC C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 1994 | Latvia | WJC C | 4 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1995 | Latvia | WJC C1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
| 2001 | Latvia | WC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2002 | Latvia | OG | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Latvia | WC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Junior totals | 12 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 30 | |||
| Senior totals | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | |||
References
edit- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kaspars Astašenko". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Kaspars Astashenko hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ "Latvian former NHL player Astasenko found dead". The Baltic Course. 23 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Former Latvian Hockey player dies, at 37". lenta.ru. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ "Kaspars Astasenko dies suddenly". rus.delfi.lv (in Latvian). 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Kaspars Astašenko at Olympedia
- Kaspars Astašenko at Olympics.com
- Kaspars Astašenko at the Latvijas Olimpiskā komiteja (in Latvian) (English translation, archive)
