About Valeri Zelepukin
Valeri Mikhailovich Zelepukin (Russian: Валерий Михайлович Зелепукин; born 17 September 1968) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks between 1991 and 2001. Born in Voskresensk in the former Soviet Union, he was drafted 221st overall in the 11th round by the Devils in the 1990 NHL entry draft and went on to play 595 regular season games, scoring 117 goals and 177 assists for 294 points. He also picked up 527 penalty minutes. Zelepukin scored his most famous goal while with New Jersey in game seven of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the arch-rival New York Rangers. With 7.7 seconds left on the clock and the Rangers leading 1-0, teammate Claude Lemieux centred the puck to Zelepukin in front of the net. After a couple of attempts, Zelepukin buried the puck past Ranger goaltender Mike Richter to tie the game. Richter protested to referee Bill McCreary that he had been interfered with, but the goal stood. Zelepukin's goal went for nought, however, when New York's Stéphane Matteau scored a dramatic wrap-around goal on Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur in double-overtime to win the game and the series for the Rangers. The Rangers would go on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks to win their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, but Zelepukin and the Devils redeemed themselves the next year, when they won their first Stanley Cup championship in a four-game sweep of the Detroit Red Wings. Zelepukin also coached KHL team Metallurg Novokuznetsk during the 2016-17 season. However, Zelepukin was fired after the team had a 1-8-0 record.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.