Alexander Semin Alexander Valerievich Semin born March 3 , 1984 in Krasnoyarsk , USSR ) is a Russia n professional ice hockey player with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League . Playing career . In 2001 – 02 , he played for one year with the Traktor Chelyabinsk hockey school . He split the season between their junior team and their regular team , and during the season he scored 21 goals and had 8 assists between the two clubs . The Capitals selected Semin with their second pick , 13th overall ( they selected Steve Eminger with their first pick , 12th overall ) in the 2002 Entry draft ; he decided to remain in Russia during the subsequent season . In 2002 – 03 , he scored 10 goals and made 7 assists in 47 games with Lada Togliatti . In the 2003 – 04 NHL season , Semin made his NHL debut . He scored 10 goals and assisted on 12 others during his stay in the NHL in 2003 – 04 . However , he missed his team ' s flight to Pittsburgh when the Capitals closed out their season against the Pittsburgh Penguins . Semin then reported to Maine to play for the American Hockey League Portland Pirates , where he collected 15 points in four regular season and seven playoff games . During the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , Semin played 50 games for HC Lada Togliatti , scoring 19 goals , assisting on 11 goals , and compiling a Plus / minus rating of + 15 . Semin began the 2005 – 06 season with Lada , but financial difficulties with the team resulted in a deal that brought him to Khimik ( Chemist ) , a Russian Superleague team in Mytischi , just outside of Moscow . While with Lada , Semin played 16 games , accumulating 5 goals , 4 assists , and 52 penalty minutes . Semin scored the first goal for the Capitals in the 2006 – 07 season against the New York Rangers on October 5 , 2006 . In his next game against Carolina he recorded a hat trick for the Capitals . On March 18 , 2007 Semin tallied the second natural hat trick of his career against the Tampa Bay Lightning , scoring three goals on three successive shots in a span of 7 : 04 in the second period . Semin resides in Arlington , Virginia . Military duty controversy . There was some confusion about Semin ' s obligations to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation , which requires all Russian men to serve two years . However , the Armed Forces allow would - be soldiers who are hockey players to play for professional hockey teams in Russia during their period of service ; they are not allowed to play for teams based in other countries . Nikolai Zherdev and some other young Russian players returned to their NHL clubs following the lockout , circumventing any additional military duty they had to serve in Russia . In particular , it was arranged for Semin to play his second year with Lada during the 2005 – 06 NHL season . Lada is located in the military district into which Semin was drafted , and they were the only team with whom Semin could fulfill his military obligation . He had completed his first year of military service by playing for Lada during the year - long NHL lockout ; the Capitals suspended him for that whole season for not reporting to their American Hockey League affiliate , the Hershey Bears , since many of their other young players were reporting there . ( Alexander Ovechkin , meanwhile , had decided to play for HC Dynamo Moscow . The Capitals did not have Ovechkin report to Portland during the lockout because they thought he was already prepared to play regularly in the NHL . ) The Capitals started training camp for the 2005 – 06 season with neither Semin nor Czech forward Petr Sykora . Sykora did arrive near the end of training camp ; Semin was still in Russia at the start of the season , taking care of paperwork for the Russian Army . News about Lada ' s financial situation initially offered the Capitals some hope that Semin would join the team during the 2005 – 06 season , but a Capitals official stated that the team is not sure that they would want Semin to rejoin their team no matter what the circumstances , because of his playing for Lada rather than the Capitals . On October 26 , 2005 , Capitals general manager George McPhee announced that the Capitals had filed a complaint against Semin and his agent , Mark Gandler . McPhee stated , " We have done everything we could to avoid this step , but we felt we had no choice but to now seek a legal remedy . This filing seeks to compel Alexander Semin ' s agent and the Russian hockey team Lada Togliatti to return Alex to the Washington Capitals . . . We look forward to the resolution of this process so that we can welcome Alex back to the Capitals this season . " Likewise , NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said , " This is a situation where a valid , legally - binding contract is not being honored , and that ' s not right . " U . S . District Court Judge Henry H . Kennedy , Jr . , issued a temporary restraining order on November 4 , 2005 , ordering Gandler and his International Sports Advisors Company to stop representing Semin in contracts with teams other than the Capitals . However , due to Lada Togliatti ' s financial challenges , Lada released Semin ; he signed with Mytischi Khimik on November 22 . Return to the NHL . On December 5 , 2005 , Kennedy denied the Capitals ' request for preliminary injunctions against Semin and Gandler . Alexander Berkovich , Semin ' s lawyer , stated that Semin intended to play for Khimik for the remainder of the 2005 – 06 season , and that Semin ' s military obligations would be fulfilled by fall 2006 . On April 11 , 2006 , Semin agreed to a two - year contract with the Capitals that will begin in the 2006 – 07 NHL season , resolving the conflict between the two parties . Semin played the whole season for the Capitals , aside from missing five games to an injury early in the season . He finished the season 13th in the NHL with 38 goals , which gave the Capitals three 30 - goal scorers for the season ; Alexander Ovechkin and Chris Clark were the others . Three of Semin ' s goals were in the form of a natural hat trick that he scored in a 7 - 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning . Later in the season , Capitals coach Glen Hanlon started Ovechkin and Semin together on the power play and occasionally on the team ' s first even - strength scoring line . Much of the Capitals ' offense in the 2006 – 07 season came from Ovechkin and Semin , who became known as " The Other Alex " and was named one of the NHL ' s up - and - coming stars . On March 3 , 2009 , Semin ' s 25th birthday , he scored his 100th career goal , against the Carolina Hurricanes and goalie Cam Ward . On April 20 , 2009 , Semin scored twice and had an assist , leading the Capitals to a crucial playoff win vs . the Rangers in game 3 . This was his first 3 point playoff game . International play . Played for Russia in :