HOCKEY PLAYERS from Belarus

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Belarusian Hockey Players of all time. This list of famous Belarusian Hockey Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ruslan Salei (1974 - 2011)

With an HPI of 36.69, Ruslan Salei is the most famous Belarusian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Ruslan Albertovich Salei (Belarusian: Руслан Альбертавіч Салей; Russian: Руслан Альбертович Салей; November 2, 1974 – September 7, 2011) was a Belarusian professional ice hockey player. Salei played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the latter of which selected him ninth overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Salei died on September 7, 2011, in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash. A Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying almost the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, en route to Minsk, Belarus, to start the 2011–12 KHL season. He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2014.

2. Andrei Kostitsyn (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 29.31, Andrei Kostitsyn is the 2nd most famous Belarusian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Andrei Olegovich Kostitsyn (Belarusian: Андрэй Алегавiч Касціцын; Russian: Андрей Олегович Костицын; born 3 February 1985) is a former Belarusian professional ice hockey forward. The media have nicknamed him "AK-46", a play on his initials (AK) and player number (46) in reference to the Soviet AK-47 rifle. His younger brother Sergei played together on the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators.

3. Sergei Kostitsyn (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 26.96, Sergei Kostitsyn is the 3rd most famous Belarusian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Sergei Olegovich Kostitsyn (Belarusian: Сяргей Алегавiч Касціцын; Russian: Сергей Олегович Костицын; born 20 March 1987) is a Belarusian professional ice hockey winger for Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague (BHL). He was selected in the seventh round, 200th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2005 NHL entry draft. He has also played for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL) alongside his older brother Andrei.

4. Andrei Stas (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 22.03, Andrei Stas is the 4th most famous Belarusian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Andrei Leonidovich Stas (Russian: Андрей Леонидович Стась) (born 18 October 1988) is a Belarusian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).