Dmytro Khrystych

Dmytro Khrystych began his professional ice hockey career in the Soviet Championship League with Sokil Kyiv from 1985 through 1991, along with a few games for ShVSM Kyiv in the secondary Pervaya Liga. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he made a move to the United States, playing three games for the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League before becoming a full-time member of the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals through 1995. He then spent two seasons each with the Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, followed by a season and a half each with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals again. He spent his final two professional seasons in the Russian Superleague with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, before retiring in 2003.

Internationally, Khrystych won his first major medal, bronze, with the Soviet Union at the 1987 European Junior Championships. He took silver at the World Juniors in 1988, before winning it in 1989, and then capturing the senior title in 1990. He eventually returned to international play with Ukraine, representing them at the World Championships from 2001 through 2003, and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Following his retirement from active competition, he took on a variety of coaching gigs, and has been the head coach of the Ukrainian national team since 2023.