Yevgeni Viktorovich Nabokov (Russian: Евгений Викторович Набоков; born July 25, 1975) is a Kazakh-born Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning of National Hockey League (NHL) and for Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk, Dynamo Moscow, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and SKA Saint Petersburg of the Russian Super League (RSL) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) from 1991 to 2015.
Nicknamed "Nabby", Nabokov, who was selected 219th overall in the 1994 NHL entry draft by San Jose, was regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best first-year player in 2001 and was voted a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as best goaltender in 2008. He departed the NHL for the first time in 2010 to play for SKA Saint Petersburg in Russia, but returned soon after, and concluded his career in the NHL. After retiring as a player Nabokov took up a role as a development coach for the Sharks, and in 2019 was named the goaltending coach for team.
In his first nine seasons in the NHL, all with San Jose, Nabokov became the team leader in nearly every goaltending category, including games played, wins, and shutouts. At his retirement, he had the eighteenth most all-time NHL regular season wins. During a game in 2002 he scored a goal, the seventh goalie in NHL history to do so, and the first not from North America.
Born in the then-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, Nabokov first played internationally with Kazakhstan at the 1994 World Championships Group C. However, he later joined the Russian national team, and played for them from 2006, including both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, winning a gold at the 2008 World Championships.
Russia and move to North America
Nabokov first played for his hometown team, Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk, spending three years with the club from 1991 until 1994. After his last season with the club he was selected in the 1994 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks in the ninth round, 219th overall. Tim Burke, the Sharks' scout, was originally scouting for a different goalie when he heard of Nabokov. The Sharks never saw Nabokov play before selecting him in the draft, and did not contact him until 1997. The following season Nabokov moved to join Dynamo Moscow, where he spent the next three seasons. In his first year with Dynamo, they won the league championship. It was after the 1996–97 season, which saw Nabokov help Dynamo reach the final of the European Hockey League, that he was contacted by the Sharks and offered a contract and come to North America.
Happy to play for Dynamo Moscow, Nabokov was initially reluctant to move to North America and play for the Sharks minor league affiliates, but decided to on the advice of his parents. Assigned to the Kentucky Thoroughblades, the Sharks' affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), he struggled to adapt to the new surroundings and style of hockey, and was ready to return to Russia during his first year. However he decided to stay after meeting his future wife, Tabitha, and refining his playing style with the Sharks goaltending coach, Warren Strelow. Used as the Thoroughblades back-up goalie, Nabokov only played in 33 games for the team. The following season was much better as he stayed near the AHL leaders in nearly every goaltending category, though he missed time due to appendicitis; he appeared in 43 games for Kentucky, winning 26 of them.
Nabokov started the 1999–2000 season with the Sharks affiliate, the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL). After 20 games with Cleveland, where he had a record of twelve wins, four losses, and three ties, Nabokov was recalled to the Sharks to serve as the back-up to Steve Shields, after Mike Vernon was traded. Nabokov made his NHL debut on January 1, 2000, in relief of Shields, against the Nashville Predators. His first start came January 19 against the Colorado Avalanche; Nabokov made 39 saves for his first shutout in a 0–0 tie. He finished with 11 games played for the Sharks during the 1999–00 NHL season, winning two and losing two.
In the second game of the 2000–01 season, Shields hurt his ankle, leaving Nabokov to become the starting goalie. He appeared in 66 games and had a record of 32 wins and 21 losses, and was named to the mid-season All-Star Game. In recognition of his play, Nabokov was named the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year, and was named to the year-end All-Rookie team; he also finished fourth in voting for the Vezina Trophy for best goalie in the league. He had similar success the following season, with 37 wins and 7 shutouts in 67 games, and on March 10, 2002, he scored a goal against the Vancouver Canucks, both the first European goalie to do so, and the first goalie to score a powerplay goal.
At the start of the 2002–03 season, Nabokov held out in a contract dispute. After making less than $1 million the previous two seasons, he felt he deserved an increase in salary, speculated to be around $4 million per season. He missed five games before the team signed him to a two-year contract worth slightly more than $3.5 million per season. Both Nabokov and the Sharks had a poor season, with the team missing the playoffs for the first time in six years, and Nabokov only winning 19 games, and finishing with a losing record. This was improved upon in 2003–04 though, as Nabokov's 31 wins helped the team reach the playoffs again, where they reached the third round for the first time in team history. A further two-year extension signed in 2004 saw him earn almost $4.5 million per year.
Nabokov was considered one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL, and was often ranked as one of the top ten, if not top five goaltenders in the NHL by ESPN The Magazine and The Hockey News. However, the 2005–06 season was an off year for Nabokov, and his save percentage of under .900 was a big concern to the team. He was relegated to the role of backup goaltender behind Vesa Toskala. Despite his less-than-stellar play, Nabokov was signed to a four-year contract extension worth roughly $21.5 million in February 2006. The contract had a no-trade clause that was activated on the condition that San Jose made the playoffs.
During the 2006–07 NHL season, Nabokov split the starting goaltending duties with Toskala. In the Sharks 82 games Nabokov started 49. Nabokov played all 5 games in the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2007 NHL playoffs, helping the Sharks defeat the Nashville Predators in 5 games.
During the first half of the 2007–08 NHL season, Nabokov started the first 43 games for the Sharks, however on January 13, 2008, in Anaheim he received his first day off when Thomas Greiss started his first NHL game. Nabokov was recognized as one of the "Three Stars" for the NHL in the last week of December 2007, along with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Jaromír Jágr of the New York Rangers. In addition to that honor, Nabokov was named the "Sharks Player of the Month" by Seagate Technology in December. Since the 1996–97 season, Seagate Technology has recognized Sharks players who made contributions to further the team's accomplishments and makes a donation of $2,500 to The Sharks Foundation on the players’ behalf. Nabokov holds the franchise-record for having won this award nine times.
Nabokov played in his second NHL All-Star Game on January 27, 2008. He stopped all eight shots that came at him, marking the first time since Nikolai Khabibulin's period in the 2002 game that a goalie played an All-Star period where no goals were scored. He secured the scoreless period when he blocked both of Ilya Kovalchuk’s shots in the last minute of the second period. On May 4, during game six of the 2008 NHL Playoffs Western Conference Semi-Finals, Nabokov made what has been called one of the best glove saves in decades, when he saved a shot from Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars by sliding over from the other side of the post and gloving the puck. The save was reviewed for several minutes before making it clear Nabokov saved it before it went over the goal line. The game, which ended in a Dallas victory, lasted for four overtime periods and is the eighth longest game in the league's history.