Artem Kryukov is a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 forward. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...

 in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft

2000 NHL Entry Draft

The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was held from June 24 to 25 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild...

.

Despite his high draft status, Kryukov has never played a professional game in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, spending his entire career to date in his native Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. He has played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Hockey Club Lokomotiv , also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Yaroslavl. The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator....

. HC Sibir Novosibirsk, Vityaz Chekhov

Vityaz Chekhov

Hockey Club Vityaz is a professional ice hockey team based in Chekhov, Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League and are currently coached by former National Hockey League enforcer Andrei Nazarov...

, and SKA Saint Petersburg

SKA Saint Petersburg

SKA Saint Petersburg is a Russian professional ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. SKA is an abbreviation for "Sports Club of the Army"...

 in the Kontinental Hockey League

Kontinental Hockey League

The Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....

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Kryukov missed the entire 2009–10 KHL season

2009–10 KHL season

The 2009–10 KHL season was the second season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It was held from 10 September 2009 to 27 April 2010, with a break for the Olympic winter games from 8 February to 3 March...

 due to a knee injury suffered in the pre-season.

Honours

• Russian championship
  Russian Open Championship
  The Russian Open Hockey Championship , also known as the Championship of Russia in ice hockey , is an annual ice hockey award and national title, bestowed by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia to the professional hockey organization judged to have the best performing team in Russia.The Russian...
  
  : 2002 (with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)

External links