Igor Ozhiganov is a Russian hockey player playing as a defender. One of the most talented defensive players in Russian hockey today. Spent his last season in the best hockey league in the world, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL.
Igor Ozhiganov was born in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region on October 13, 1992. Since childhood, the child was fond of outdoor games, showed love for sports. The boy especially liked ice hockey. At a young age, he decided to link his life path with this sport.
The player's career began at the Sports School of the Olympic Reserve No. 1 of the Moskomsport in the youth club "White Bears". In this team, Ozhiganov received his first hockey education. The further hockey career of the pupil of the capital sports school developed in Moscow.
Igor Ozhiganov's career in Russia
Since 2009, Igor Ozhiganov has played in the Youth Hockey League for the Moscow team "Red Army". In the first two seasons, he played more than a hundred regular season games, adding to these games a playoff performance (21 games in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons).
Talent and hockey creativity on the site, combined with hard work in the training process, allowed Ozhiganov to make his debut in the KHL in 2011 for the main army team of CSKA. However, the player played only two regular season matches in 2011 in the KHL. The young defender finished the end of the playing season in the Red Army, with which he became a triumphant in the playoffs of the MHL championship, winning the Kharlamov Cup.
In the 2011-2012 season, Igor Ozhiganov played most of the matches in the MHL, but the CSKA base called on a talented defender to join their ranks in thirteen matches of the “smooth” KHL championship. For 13 games Ozhiganov scored twice with scored goals.
The first full season in adult hockey in the Continental League took place for the defencists in 2012 and 2013. The player signed a contract with Amur Khabarovsk. But in this team he played only one incomplete season, after which he returned to the location of CSKA.
From 2013 to 2015, Ozhiganov established himself as the main defender of Novosibirsk Siberia. For two seasons he played more than a hundred matches, in which he scored 27 points according to the goal and pass system (9 +18).
In 2015 he returned to Moscow and became the main defender of the army team. It was with CSKA that Ozhiganov twice became a silver medalist in the KHL and once won bronze medals.
Igor Ozhiganov's career in the NHL
In May 2018, Igor Ozhiganov signed a contract with the famous NHL club Toronto Maple Leafs and went overseas to try his hand at the best hockey league in the world. The first half of the regular season, Ozhiganov often got a place in the squad, but after the winter exchanges, the situation changed. The defender began to hit the base less often. At the same time, Ozhiganov was able to play 53 matches in the NHL, in which he scored three times and assisted his partners four more times. He was a tough defender. During his time on the ice, he earned only 14 penalty minutes in the NHL.
In May 2019, information appeared that Ozhiganov was returning to Russia. His new club will be Ak Bars Kazan.
The hockey player's personal life is formed. He is married to gymnast Alexandra Merkulova. The beloved couple last year had a son, who was named Mikhail.
