Mika Zibanejad

Mika Zibanejad
Mika Zibanejad
Born 18 April 1993 (1993-04-18) (age 18)
Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
NHL team (P)
Cur. team		 Ottawa Senators
Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
National team  Sweden
NHL Draft 6th overall, 2011
Ottawa Senators
Playing career 2010–present

Mika Zibanejad (born 18 April 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Elitserien (SEL). Zibanejad was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators and signed a professional contract with Ottawa on 13 July 2011. He made the Senators lineup out of training camp to start the 2011–12 season, but was returned to Djurgårdens IF after scoring one point in 9 NHL games with Ottawa.

Contents

Playing career

Zibanejad being selected sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft

Zibanejad began playing hockey at the age of six in Hammarby IF, where he played a total of seven seasons before the club became bankrupt in 2008.[1] He moved to AIK IF's youth organization for the following season where he began playing junior hockey. He was acquired by Djurgårdens IF for the 2009–10 season, to play in Djurgården's J18-team and J20-team. Zibanejad made his Elitserien debut on 7 December 2010 against Luleå HF,[2] and scored his first Elitserien goal on 15 January 2011 against Tuomas Tarkki of Modo Hockey.[3] He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 KHL Junior Draft by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, 129th overall.[4] On 7 February 2011, Zibanejad signed a two-year contract extension with Djurgården.[5] Zibanejad became a regular player in the senior roster after his debut, playing in 26 of the remaining 29 games.[6] He scored five goals and nine points,[6] which put him third in points for players 18 or younger playing with the senior team, behind Fredrik Bremberg and Jacob Josefson.[5]

Ottawa Senators

On 13 July 2011, Zibanejad signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators, the team that drafted him sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. [7] After an impressive camp, Zibanejad joined the Senators for their first game of the 2011–12 season. He registered his first NHL point in his first game; an assist on a goal by Filip Kuba in a 5–3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.[8] After just one point in 9 games, Zibanejad was reassigned to his most recent club Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Elitserien (SEL) on 26 October 2011.[9]

Personal life

Zibanejad was raised in Huddinge, Sweden.[10] Zibanejad's father is from Iran and his mother is from Finland.[11] His half-brother, Monir Kalgoum, is also an ice hockey player, who previously played for Milton Keynes Lightning but is currently with the Swedish Division 2 team Botkyrka HC.[12][11] Zibanejad is the fifth player of Iranian descent to play professional hockey, following in the footsteps of Daniel Rahimi, Rhett Rakhshani, Mark Ardelan and Monir Kalgoum.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Djurgårdens IF J20 SuperElit 14 2 2 4 4 — — — — —
2010–11 Djurgårdens IF J20 SuperElit 27 12 9 21 12 3 1 2 3 0
2010–11 Djurgårdens IF SEL 26 5 4 9 2 7 1 1 2 2
2011–12 Ottawa Senators NHL 9 0 1 1 2 — — — — —

References

  1. ^ Bodin, Uffe (26 January 2011). "Här är vårt nästa drafthopp" (in Swedish). hockeysverige.se. http://www.hockeysverige.se/article/11290893/har-ar-vart-nasta-drafthopp. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  2. ^ Gustavsson, Sven (7 December 2010). "Djurgårdens juniorer bjöd på show" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. http://www.dn.se/sport/ishockey/djurgardens-juniorer-bjod-pa-show-1.1223457. Retrieved 11 December 2010. 
  3. ^ Lundin, Anders (15 January 2011). "Djurgården skrämde övertidsspöket" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. TT. http://www.dn.se/sport/ishockey/djurgarden-slog-modo-efter-straffar. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
  4. ^ Robert, Pettersson. "Svenskarna som gick i KHL-draften" (in Swedish). hockeysverige.se. http://www.hockeysverige.se/news_show_svenskarna-som-gick-i-khl-draften.html?id=10060845. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
  5. ^ a b "Mika Zibanejad klar för två år till i DIF" (in Swedish). difhockey.se. Djurgårdens IF Hockey. http://www.difhockey.se/nyhet.php?news=7951. Retrieved 7 February 2011. 
  6. ^ a b "Mika Zibanejad" (in Swedish). difhockey.se. Djurgårdens IF Hockey. http://www.difhockey.se/spelarstats.php?id=3739. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  7. ^ http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/13/senators-sign-top-draft-pick
  8. ^ Hedger, Brian (5 October 2011). "Wings hold off Senators 5-3 in opener". nhl.com. National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011020005&navid=sb:recap. 
  9. ^ "Senators send rookie Zibanejad back to Sweden". The Sports Network. 2011-10-26. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=378971. Retrieved 2011-10-26. 
  10. ^ "Mika Zibanejad". nhl.com. NHL. http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?dpid=9735. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
  11. ^ a b Holm, Stefan (26 February 2011). "(K)ungen av Globen" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/sverige/elitserien/djurgarden/article8628210.ab. Retrieved 5 March 2011. 
  12. ^ "Monir Kalgoum". eliteprospects.com. http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=2059&lang=en. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 

External links

Preceded by
Jared Cowen
(2009)		 Ottawa Senators first round draft pick
2011		 Succeeded by
Stefan Noesen
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