Vitali Prokhorov

Who is Vitali Prokhorov?

Vitali Vladimirovich Prokhorov is a retired professional hockey player who played briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. He played left wing and shot left-handed.

Prokhorov began his playing career in his native USSR. He played for Spartak Moscow for 9 seasons from 1983 until 1992. He also played for the USSR in the 1991 Canada Cup and for Russia in the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Ice Hockey World Championship. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union many Russian players attempted to come to North America to play in the NHL. Prokhorov was no exception, and he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round, 64th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He along with Vitali Karamnov and Igor Korolev created a "Moscow Express Line" that was expected to bring a big scoring punch to the Blues.

For the 1992–1993 season however things did not go well for Prokhorov. After a slow start, Prokhorov suffered a shoulder injury that limited him to only 26 games the whole year. He did have a bright spot during the season however when he scored a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 31, 1992. After starting the 1993–1994 season with the Peoria Rivermen Prokhorov played 55 games with the Blues, scoring 25 points. The following season Prokhorov played 20 games with the Rivermen and only 2 games with the Blues before being released.