Kaspars Astašenko

Who was Kaspars Astašenko?

Kaspars Astašenko was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Astašenko was born in Riga, Latvia.

Astašenko began his career in his native Riga with HK Pārdaugava Rīga before signing with HC CSKA Moscow in 1995. In 1998 he signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League. He was drafted 127th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He went on to play 23 regular games in the National Hockey League for the Lightning as well as playing for the IHL's Detroit Vipers and Long Beach Ice Dogs. He later played in the American Hockey League for the Springfield Falcons and the Lowell Lock Monsters.

He would return to Europe in 2003, with stops at Finland's SM-liiga with Ilves and HPK, back in Russia with Khimik Voskresensk, the Slovak Extraliga with HC Slovan Bratislava, Ritten Sport of Italy's Serie A and the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League for the Belfast Giants as well as brief spells in his native Latvia and the lower leagues in Finland.

Astašenko played for the Latvian national team in the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2001 and 2006, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.