Playing career

Zubov is considered one of the best offensive defensemen in NHL history. He played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1998, 1999, and 2000. He has also won two Stanley Cups, one with the New York Rangers in 1994, and the other with Dallas in 1999. In 1992, Zubov won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, playing for the Unified Team. He is also the NHL's all-time leading scorer among Russian defensemen, and the all-time leading scorer among defensemen in the history of the Stars franchise.

Zubov was drafted in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. Prior to this, he played for the Red Army's hockey team, HC CSKA Moscow, in Russia. He continued to play for the Red Army until 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. . Although Sergei spent some of his rookie season with New York's AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers, he played forty-nine games as a rookie for the Rangers, scoring 31 points, considered then to be above-average for a defenseman. Zubov's high-scoring ways continued, as he scored 12 goals and earned 77 assists during the 1993-94 season, which led the team in regular season scoring. He contributed 19 points to the Rangers' playoff campaign, as he, along with Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Alexei Kovalev became the first Russians to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Zubov continued to play well for the Rangers, but on August 31, 1995, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Petr Nedvěd for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille. Zubov only spent one season in Pittsburgh, probably because he and team captain Mario Lemieux didn't get along, especially on the powerplay where both men wanted to be in control. Ultimately, he was traded to the Dallas Stars on June 22, 1996 for Kevin Hatcher.

Although Zubov never again reached the scoring height of his 1993-94 season with the Rangers, due to a combination of Dallas's more defensive system and decreased scoring in general, he has earned all three of his trips to the All-Star game with the Stars. He never again reached an 80+ point total, but had 11 consecutive years of 40+ point seasons and 30+ assists.

He is also excellent defensively and while he has a well-sized body, he is known more for his positioning and puck-dislodging abilities out of corners rather than his checking abilities. He has been a mainstay on the penalty killing squad for several years now and has only recorded a negative plus/minus four times in his career, with two of them within his first three years in the leagues.

Zubov has always played a solid game, but for years went under the radar and did not garner any nominations for the NHL awards or the NHL First/Second All-Star teams. However, in the 2005-06 regular season, Zubov posted 71 points for his highest outing in over a decade - and also received his first Norris Trophy nomination.

Zubov and his wife, Irina, have two kids, Paul and Anastasia (Anna) Zubov. Now, his son attends Northeastern University in Boston and his daughter attends the International School of Moscow. Zubov missed nearly half of the 2007-08 NHL season with a sports hernia injury and most of the 2008-09 NHL season with a hip injury.

On July 30, 2009, he decided to leave the NHL as he signed a contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. He was also selected as a reserve by Team Russia for the 2010 Winter Olympics should an injury occur during the tournament.

On April 18, 2011, it was reported that Zubov would officially retire due to hip-related injury problems.

Coaching

On July 20, 2015, Zubov was named to the coaching staff of the Russian national team as a defensive assistant.

Awards

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
	1992 Albertville

• Member of two Stanley Cup winning teams: 1994 with the New York Rangers and 1999 with the Dallas Stars
• Selected to four NHL All-Star Games: 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2008
• Named to the Second NHL All-Star Team in 2006

Legacy

• Ranked No. 72 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
• Zubov left the NHL as the league's all-time scoring leader for Russian-born defensemen. He is now 2nd behind Sergei Gonchar.

Career statistics

				Regular Season							Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1988-89	CSKA Moscow	USSR		29	1	4	5	—	10		—	—	—	—	—	—
1989-90	CSKA Moscow	USSR		48	6	2	8	—	16		—	—	—	—	—	—
1990-91	CSKA Moscow	USSR		41	6	5	11	—	12		—	—	—	—	—	—
1991-92	CSKA Moscow	USSR		36	4	7	11	—	6		—	—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	CSKA Moscow	RSL		1	0	1	1	—	0		—	—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	Binghamton Rangers	AHL		30	7	29	36	—	14		11	5	5	10	—	2
1992-93	New York Rangers	NHL		49	8	23	31	−1	4		—	—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	Binghamton Rangers	AHL		2	1	2	3	—	0		—	—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	New York Rangers	NHL		78	12	77	89	+20	39		22	5	14	19	+10	0
1994-95	New York Rangers	NHL		38	10	26	36	−2	18		10	3	8	11	−9	2
1995-96	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		64	11	55	66	+28	22		18	1	14	15	+9	26
1996-97	Dallas Stars	NHL		78	13	30	43	+19	24		7	0	3	3	+4	2
1997-98	Dallas Stars	NHL		73	10	47	57	+16	16		17	4	5	9	+3	2
1998-99	Dallas Stars	NHL		81	10	41	51	+9	20		23	1	12	13	+13	4
1999-00	Dallas Stars	NHL		77	9	33	42	−2	18		18	2	7	9	+1	6
2000-01	Dallas Stars	NHL		79	10	41	51	+22	24		10	1	5	6	+2	4
2001-02	Dallas Stars	NHL		80	12	32	44	−4	22		—	—	—	—	—	—
2002-03	Dallas Stars	NHL		82	11	44	55	+21	26		12	4	10	14	+2	4
2003-04	Dallas Stars	NHL		77	7	35	42	0	20		5	1	1	2	−5	0
2005-06	Dallas Stars	NHL		78	13	58	71	+20	46		5	1	5	6	−1	6
2006-07	Dallas Stars	NHL		78	12	42	54	0	26		6	0	4	4	+3	2
2007-08	Dallas Stars	NHL		46	4	31	35	+6	12		11	1	5	6	−4	4
2008-09	Dallas Stars	NHL		10	0	4	4	−4	0		—	—	—	—	—	—
2009-10	SKA St. Petersburg	KHL		53	10	32	42	—	32		4	0	2	2	—	0
USSR/RSL totals				155	17	19	36	—	44		—	—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1068	152	619	771	+148	337		164	24	93	117	+28	62

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	Result	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989	Soviet Union	WJC	01 !	7	0	5	5	4
1990	Soviet Union	WJC	02 !	7	1	3	4	14
1992	Unified Team	Oly	01 !	8	0	1	1	0
1992	CIS	WC	5th	6	2	2	4	10
1996	Russia	WCH	SF	3	1	1	2	0
2010	Russia	Oly	QF	0	-	-	-	-
Junior int'l totals				14	1	8	9	18
Senior int'l totals				17	3	4	7	10

[ Source: Wikipedia ]