About Nik Antropov
Nikolai Alexandrovich Antropov (Russian: Николай Александрович Антропов; born February 18, 1980) is a Kazakh-Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers and Winnipeg Jets. He received Canadian citizenship in May 2007. Internationally Antropov played for Kazakhstan at several junior and senior tournaments, including the 2006 Winter Olympics. == Playing career == Antropov was expected to be drafted early in the second round, but following a dominant season with Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk in the second-tier of the Russian Superleague (RSL), including an international match against Iceland, in which he scored 11 goals and 26 points, he was drafted tenth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1998 NHL entry draft. Before going overseas to play hockey in North America, Antropov also played in the RSL with Dynamo Moscow. When Owen Nolan joined the Maple Leafs in March 2003, Antropov changed his number from #11 (Nolan's number for the San Jose Sharks) to #80, the year of his birth. In 2003–04, Maple Leafs head coach Pat Quinn placed Antropov alongside Joe Nieuwendyk and Alexei Ponikarovsky dubbed the "Skyline" due to the players' height. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Antropov returned to the RSL and played 36 games split between Ak Bars Kazan and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. However, injuries felled the power forward, and he missed significant time during the 2005–06 season. Antropov managed to produce 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points in 57 games.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.