12 from 12. Best defensemen: Chris Lee
Continuing our rundown of the KHL’s top players in each position. 12 seasons, 12 players. Today we’re going on with defensemen with Metallurg legend Chris Lee.
12 from 12. Best defensemen: Lepisto and Kulyash
6. Chris Lee
GP: 335, G: 54, A: 191, Pts: 245, +/-: +89, PIM: 215
Clubs: Metallurg
Country: Canada
Not many KHL defensemen can boast a career as Chris Lee had in Magnitogorsk. The Ontario-native D-man first came to Europe in 2010, after paying his dues first in the NCAA lower level, then in the ECHL and in the AHL. Different from other players from North America, Lee first came to Europe when he was already a veteran, just before turning 30. He first signed in Germany, with the Cologne Sharks, then moved to Mannheim for the next year. In 2011-12, Lee was already one of the best defensemen in the league, and he won the best defenseman award in the DEL, then decided to accept a new challenge for the next year, signing in Sweden with Farjestad. In the SHL, Lee kept on scoring at a record pace and was the best defenseman by assists and points in both the regular season and the playoffs. It was clear that he outgrew the level and needed a stronger league to play in.
All this became a reality in 2013, when he inked a deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, who allegedly defeated CSKA, SKA, and Avangard in the race to sign the offensive defenseman. Lee took the KHL by the storm — in his first year, he participated in the All-Star Game in Bratislava and helped Metallurg win its first Gagarin Cup. That year, the team led by Iron Mike Keenan defeated HC Lev 4-3 in one of the finest and most memorable series ever played in the league. In the next season, his play earned Lee a long-term, three-year deal in Magnitogorsk.
However, despite a strong play from its leaders — Lee will make the All-Star game yet again — Metallurg had a bad start of the year and couldn’t repeat the previous year’s triumph. But Lee had bigger plans and helped the Magnitogorsk-based franchise to climb to the top once again in 2016. With Ilya Vorobyov taking the wheel following the dismissal of Keenan, Lee scored another 37 (9+28) points in the regular season. Still, as all the real champions, he left the most important ones for the clutch times. With the Gagarin Cup finals against CSKA Moscow tied at three wins for either side, with one minute left in the second period, Metallurg had a scoring chance in the offensive zone. Czech forward Jan Kovar picked up the puck behind the crease, sending it to a waiting Lee between the circles. The Canadian D-man picked up the disc and sent it home with a blistering shot down low that clinched the second Gagarin Cup triumph in three years for the Magnitogorsk franchise.
The next year, Lee probably had the best season in his career. Amassing 65 (14+51) points in 60 regular-season games, he became one of the few blueliners to score over a point a game in a full season, adding 21 (1+20) points in 18 postseason clashes. However, Metallurg had to surrender to SKA in its third Gagarin Cup final in four years. Lee’s game was so strong that he was picked up by Canada to compete at the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Germany and France, where he helped his team to return home with a silver medal. With his contract running out at the end of the campaign, Lee decided to play his last year again wearing the Metallurg jersey.
“I would be crazy to not want to come back to Magnitka,” — Lee told khl.ru after he inked a one-year deal to play in Magnitogorsk the 2017-18 season. Unfortunately, his last year in the KHL wasn’t as successful as the other ones, in particular, because of an injury that limited him to 26 regular-season games — and he had to miss the All-Star game as well even if he was selected to play. However, he had a chance to represent Canada again on the international stage at the 2018 South Korea Olympics, where he added a bronze medal to his long CV. After his retirement, Metallurg honored Lee’s career enrolling him in the Magnitogorsk’s hockey hall of fame and retiring his #4 jersey on a moving ceremony in September 2018.
