Evgeni Nabokov Evgeni Viktorovich Nabokov ( ; born July 25 , 1975 in Ust - Kamenogorsk , Kazakh SSR , Soviet Union ) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a member of SKA St . Petersburg in the KHL , after having played 10 years with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League . Nabokov was selected by San Jose in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft ( 9th round , 219th overall ) . When he started playing in North America , he went by John , rather than Evgeni , fearing that English speakers would have a hard time pronouncing his name . However , this change did not last . Over nine seasons in the NHL , all with San Jose , Nabokov has become the Sharks leader in nearly every goaltending category , including games played , wins , and shutouts . Playing career . Russia and minor league . San Jose Heads Scout Tim Burke saw Nabokov on an advertisement during his trip to Russia while Burke went to scout another player . Taken late in the ninth round , the Sharks had never seen him play ; rather , they were more interested in the skill of Nabokov ' s father , a professional goaltender who played 18 years in Kazakhstan . San Jose Sharks . After a few years in the American Hockey League ( AHL ) , Nabokov played his first NHL game on January 1 , 2000 , stopping his first four shots when he replaced Steve Shields in a game against the Nashville Predators . On January 19 , 2000 , Nabokov started in his first NHL game , playing against the Colorado Avalanche and famed goalie Patrick Roy . Impressively , Nabokov stopped all 39 shots he faced in a 0 - 0 tie . In his first three appearances , Nabokov stopped all but one of his first 58 shots , and the one goal he allowed was when Stéphane Matteau put the puck into an empty net while Nabokov was skating to the bench on a delayed penalty . In the second game of the 2000 – 01 NHL season , Shields hurt his ankle , leaving San Jose without a number one goalie . Instead of giving the job to the very well known Miikka Kiprusoff , whom the Sharks brass considered the " goalie of the future , " they left Kiprusoff in the AHL so he could get more experience , and gave the starting position to Nabokov , and he ran away with it , winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the Rookie of the Year . Also , he played in the 2001 All - star game and took San Jose to the playoffs . On March 10 , 2002 , he became the first netminder in NHL history to score a powerplay goal , doing so against the Vancouver Canucks . 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 magazines like " ESPN The Magazine " and " The Hockey News " . However , the 2005 – 06 season was an off year for Nabokov . His save percentage of under . 900 was a big concern to the team . More notably , he was relegated to the role of backup goaltender , in deference to a red - hot Vesa Toskala . Nabokov is known for his excellent positioning and his ability to challenge shooters , but has been hampered by a groin injury . 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 San Jose 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 in the second period , making it the first time since 2002 that a goalie has played a period where no goals were scored . The last goaltender to do so was fellow Russian goalie Nikolai Khabibulin . Nabokov 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 Western Conference Semi - Finals of the 2008 NHL Playoffs , Nabokov made what has been called one of the best glove saves in decades , when he robbed Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars of a goal by sliding over from the other side of the post and gloved 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 , went to 4th overtime and is now the 8th longest game in NHL history . Nabokov recorded 41 wins for the Sharks during the 2008 - 09 NHL Season as the Sharks clinched first overall in the Western Conference and the League . Despite this , the Sharks were eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs by the 8th seed Anaheim Ducks , marking just the fourth time that a number 8 seed defeated a number 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs . On October 17 , 2009 , Nabokov played in his 500th career game - all with San Jose - and stopped 31 shots in a 4 - 1 win over the New York Islanders . On February 11 , 2010 , Nabokov stopped a career - high 50 shots en route to a 3 - 2 shootout victory against the Detroit Red Wings . This was also Nabokov ' s 11th consecutive road victory , a new NHL record . On June 22nd , 2010 , Sharks general manager Doug Wilson confirmed that Nabokov will not be returning to San Jose as a consequence of the NHL ' s salary cap . The decision received mixed reviews from Sharks fans as Nabokov has been a pivotal part of the team ' s regular season success and is considered to be one of the team ' s two greatest draft picks , along with Patrick Marleau . Unfortunately , Nabokov has also taken heat for being at the center of San Jose ' s playoff failures and with tough decisions looming in form of major free agents Marleau , Joe Pavelski , and Devin Setoguchi , Wilson felt that keeping Nabokov was less of a priority in a cap era . Contracts . During the 2003 season , Nabokov held out , refusing to sign San Jose ' s proposed contract . After making only US $ 1 million for two years of stellar play , he wanted much more . He only missed five games before the Sharks met his demands , signing him to a two - year contract . When he finally signed a contract , he struggled to regain his form , as he had taken too long of a break . Later , he remarked that holding out was extremely unsportsmanlike , and that he would never do it again . He held to his word when he avoided arbitration by signing a two - year deal worth US $ 4 . 425 million per year in 2004 , even when players comparable to him were getting more than US $ 6 million per year . Despite his less - than - stellar play during the 2006 season , Nabokov was signed to a four - year contract extension worth roughly US $ 21 . 5 million . The contract had a no - trade clause that was activated on the condition that San Jose made the playoffs . Following the end of the 2009 - 10 season Nabokov ' s extension expired and he became an unrestricted free agent . He was considered one of the " big names " available in free agency , however there was no significant interest shown in him while several teams went for less - expensive options , and on July 7th it was reported that he had signed a $ 24 million dollar contract with SKA St . Petersburg of the KHL , early reports varied on the length of the contract between 4 or 6 years . International career . While he is a Russia n citizen , he was previously denied permission by the International Ice Hockey Federation ( IIHF ) to play for Russia , because he had played for Kazakhstan as a 19 - year - old in the 1994 World Championships . In 2005 , Nabokov was granted permission to play for Russia in the IIHF World Championships , but declined . Nabokov had tried to gain the IIHF ' s permission to play for Russia at the 2002 Winter Olympics , but failed as there were regulations in place forbidding players from representing two different countries . He was finally allowed to play for Russia in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Italy , after being given an exemption by the IIHF , and was named to the Russian team for the 2008 World Championships . During the 2008 World Championships he posted back - to - back shut - outs before defeating Canada 5 - 4 in the Gold Medal game . Team Russia won the 2008 IIHF World Championships , earning Nabokov his first gold medal . He was named as the starting goaltender for Team Russia in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , British Columbia . Played for Kazakhstan in : Played for Russia in :