Darius Kasparaitis Info:

*Darius played 5 seasons for Dynamo, Moscow. In the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, The New York Islanders made a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in order to select Darius as the first round pick (fifth overall).

*Darius was traded from the New York Islanders on November 17th 1996 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

*Darius' first NHL goal and point was on October 6th, 1992 against Kelly Hrudy of the Los Angeles Kings.

*He became the first Lithuanian to play in the Russian League in over 30 years in 1989'90.

*In International competition, he was awarded a berth on the All Star team at the 1990 IIHF European Junior Championship.

*He was named the best defenseman at the 1992 IIHF World Junior Championship in Fussen, Germany.

*He made his Soviet National League debut at 16 years old and was a member of back to back championship teams with Moscow Dynamo in 1990'91 and 1991'92.

*Darius and his wife Irina, have donated over $20,000 of new and used hockey equipment to youth programs in Lithuania and would like to help build a rink there.

*Won a Gold metal at 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France for the Commonwealth of Independant States Team.

*Won a Silver metal in 1991 in Saskatoon and a Gold metal in 1992 in Fussen, Germany with Dynamo Moscow.

*Won a Silver metal in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan for team Russia.

*Darius' first goal as a penguin was in his first game as a penguin on Nov. 19th 1997.

*Darius' +17 rating was the best among Penguins defensemen and third overall on the team behind Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1996-1997 (+24 including Islanders stats that year).