Playing career

Kasparaitis left Lithuania for Russia at age 14 after training with Aleksey Nikiforov to play ice hockey at a higher level. Kasparaitis played his first game for Dynamo Moscow, one of the premier teams in the Soviet Union, at the age of 16 during the 1988-89 season, and won the Soviet League championship with them in 1992.

He was drafted by the New York Islanders with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Kasparaitis played for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers.

Kasparaitis was known for his aggressive physical playing style and led his teams in hits several times, including his rookie season, in 1992-93 NHL season with the New York Islanders. While playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1998 Kasparaitis' made a hard hit on Eric Lindros that knocked Lindros out of action for 18 games. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline in 2002, where he spent the remainder of the 2001-02 NHL season. Kasparaitis eventually wound up with the New York Rangers. During the 2005-06 season, he served as an alternate captain of the Rangers, along with Jaromír Jágr and Steve Rucchin, as the Rangers had no captain.

Because the Lithuanian ice hockey team was relatively weak and hadn't ever played in major competitions, Kasparaitis chose to represent Russia in official events. In December 2005, Kasparaitis was chosen to represent Russia in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

At the start of the 2006-07 season, Kasparaitis was replaced as an alternate captain with the Rangers by newly acquired Brendan Shanahan. He was waived by the New York Rangers on January 24, 2007 and subsequently demoted to the Rangers' affiliate in Hartford. Kasparaitis was once again waived by the Rangers prior to the 2007-08 season.

On November 3, 2007, the Rangers announced that Kasparaitis had been loaned to SKA St. Petersburg of the then-Russian Superleague (RSL), now the KHL. The deal was made possible due to a lack of a transfer agreement between Russia and North America at the time. However, the Rangers retained his NHL rights.

Kasparaitis left an enduring impression with Ranger fans with the team salute that he created. After every Rangers home win, Kasparaitis would direct the players to center ice and have the whole team follow in saluting the fans by raising their sticks in the air before departing the ice. The tradition is still carried on by the Rangers for every home win.

Kasparaitis continued to play for SKA Saint Petersburg in the 2008-09 season. In 26 games, he contributed a single assist.

In the 2009-10 season, he did not play due to an injury and eventually announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season. Despite his retirement he is attempting to become eligible to represent Lithuania internationally.

Coaching staff career

On June 19, 2010, Kasparaitis signed as the assistant coach for SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The contract expired on December 22, 2010.

Personal life

Kasparaitis is now a naturalized American citizen. He is the father of five kids. He has a daughter with his first wife Irina, named Elizabeth Marija, who was born on March 19, 1997 in Pittsburgh. He and his second wife, Ingela, divorced in 2006. His current wife is Lisa Carrol and they have twin daughters, Liv and Lilly, born on September 3, 2008 in Stockholm and two sons, Marley, born on August 19, 2010 in Saint Petersburg and Miles, born on November 11, 2014 in Miami. They share their time between South Florida and Stockholm.

Kasparaitis holds dual nationality and is a citizen of Lithuania and the United States.

Verzasca Group

In early 2015, Kasparaitis co-founded the Verzasca Group, a Florida based real estate development company, of which he holds the title as president. They took the name Verzasca from the Swiss river, because of the "transparency that the firm strives to bring to both its investors and its development partners." Later in the year, the company had gained approval on two residential projects in the Miami area.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1988-89	Dynamo Moscow	USSR		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1989-90	Dynamo Moscow	USSR		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990-91	Dynamo Moscow	USSR		17	0	1	1	10		—	—	—	—	—
1991-92	Dynamo Moscow	CIS		31	2	10	12	14		—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	Dynamo Moscow	IHL		7	1	3	4	8		—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	New York Islanders	NHL		79	4	17	21	166		18	0	5	5	31
1993-94	New York Islanders	NHL		76	1	10	11	142		4	0	0	0	8
1994-95	New York Islanders	NHL		13	0	1	1	22		—	—	—	—	—
1995-96	New York Islanders	NHL		46	1	7	8	93		—	—	—	—	—
1996-97	New York Islanders	NHL		18	0	5	5	16		—	—	—	—	—
1996-97	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		57	2	16	18	84		5	0	0	0	6
1997-98	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		81	4	8	12	127		5	0	0	0	8
1998-99	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		48	1	4	5	70		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		73	3	12	15	146		11	1	1	2	10
2000-01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		77	3	16	19	111		17	1	1	2	26
2001-02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		69	2	12	14	123		—	—	—	—	—
2001-02	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		11	0	0	0	19		21	0	3	3	18
2002-03	New York Rangers	NHL		80	3	11	14	85		—	—	—	—	—
2003-04	New York Rangers	NHL		44	1	9	10	48		—	—	—	—	—
2004-05	Ak Bars Kazan	RSL		28	1	3	4	118		3	0	0	0	6
2005-06	New York Rangers	NHL		67	0	6	6	97		2	0	0	0	0
2006-07	New York Rangers	NHL		24	2	2	4	30		—	—	—	—	—
2006-07	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		12	0	3	3	8		—	—	—	—	—
2007-08	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		4	1	0	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2007-08	SKA Saint Petersburg	RSL		33	1	4	5	83		8	0	2	2	4
2008-09	SKA Saint Petersburg	KHL		26	0	1	1	34		—	—	—	—	—
RSL/KHL totals				146	5	22	27	267		11	0	2	2	55
NHL totals				863	27	136	163	1379		83	2	10	12	107

International

Medal record
Representing Russia & CIS & Soviet Union
Winter Olympics
	1992 Albertville	Ice hockey
	1998 Nagano	Ice hockey
	2002 Salt Lake City	Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
	1992	Ice hockey
	1991	Ice Hockey
European Junior Championships
	1990	Ice Hockey

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991	Soviet Union	WJC	02 !		6	1	3	4	16
1992	CIS	WJC	01 !		7	1	5	6	8
1992	CIS	Oly	01 !		8	0	2	2	2
1992	Russia	WC	5th		6	2	1	3	4
1996	Russia	WC	4th		8	0	2	2	2
1996	Russia	WCH	SF		5	0	2	2	14
1998	Russia	Oly	02 !		6	0	2	2	6
2002	Russia	Oly	03 !		6	1	0	1	4
2004	Russia	WCH	5th		4	0	1	1	8
2006	Russia	Oly	4th		8	0	2	2	8
Junior totals					13	2	8	10	24
Senior totals					51	3	12	15	50

Transactions

• June 20, 1992: New York Islanders 1st round pick, 5th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.
• November 17, 1996: Traded by the New York Islanders, along with Andreas Johansson, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Bryan Smolinski.
• March 19, 2002: Traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Rick Berry and Ville Nieminen.
• July 2, 2002: Signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers.
• November 3, 2007: Loaned to SKA St. Petersburg.

Awards

• 1990: European Junior Championship All-Star Team
• 1992: World Junior Championships Best Defenseman

[ Source: Wikipedia ]