Alexander Godynyuk

Who is Alexander Godynyuk?

Oleksandr Olehovych Hodyniuk, known commonly as Alexander Godynyuk is a retired Ukrainian professional ice hockey defenceman. He was drafted in the sixth round, 115th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

Godynyuk played parts of five seasons in the Soviet Union before coming to North America to join the Maple Leaf organization. He made his NHL debut for Toronto in the 1990–91 season, appearing in 18 games. He played in 31 more games for the Maple Leafs in the 1991–92 season before being traded to the Calgary Flames in a ten-player deal which brought Doug Gilmour to Toronto.

Godynyuk was selected from the Flames by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. He would move on to the Hartford Whalers midway through the 1993–94 season, and would stay there for the remainder of his NHL career.

Godynyuk left the NHL after the 1996–97 season. He played in the International Hockey League with the Chicago Wolves for one season, and then went to Europe to play in Switzerland's Nationalliga A and Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga before retiring following the 2000–01 season.

Godynyuk represented Ukraine at the 1999 IIHF World Championship.