Oct 7, 2008 - 8:14 PM
FRISCO, Texas (Ticker) -- The Dallas Stars will begin the season without Sergei Zubov, as the veteran defenseman was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.
Zubov, who was limited to 46 games last season due to a sports hernia, is out indefinitely as he recovers from offseason hip surgery. The 38-year-old Russian notched four goals and 31 assists during the 2007-08 regular campaign and added a tally and six points in 11 playoff contests.
A three-time All-Star Game participant who was elected but unable to play in last season's event, Zubov was a fifth-round pick of the New York Rangers in 1990. He has registered 152 goals, 615 assists and 337 penalty minutes in 1,058 career games with the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Stars.
The 6-1, 198-pound Zubov helped the Unified Team capture the gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics and won the Stanley Cup with New York in 1994 and Dallas five years later.
The Stars also assigned defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy to Peoria of the American Hockey League and released right wing Konstantin Pushkarev.
Vishnevskiy, 20, was the 27th overall selection in the 2006 draft. The 5-11, 176-pound Russian spent last season with Rouyn-Noranda of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he notched 17 goals and 28 assists in 45 games.
Selected in the second round of the 2003 draft by Los Angeles, Pushkarev was acquired by Dallas in February 2007. The 23-year-old native of Kazakhstan spent the majority of last season with Iowa of the American Hockey League, recording 13 goals and 27 assists in 49 games.
In 17 career NHL contests, all with the Kings, Pushkarev has registered two goals and three assists.