Mika Zibanejad (Persian: میکا زیبانژاد; born 18 April 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Zibanejad was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He made the Senators lineup out of training camp to start the 2011–12 season, but was returned to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden after scoring one point in nine NHL games with Ottawa. On 18 July 2016, after five seasons within the Senators organization, Zibanejad was traded to the Rangers.
Internationally, Zibanejad has represented Sweden at both the under-18 and junior levels. On 5 January 2012, Zibanejad scored the gold medal-winning golden goal for Sweden in the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships against Russia in the tournament final; the game finished 1–0. On 20 May 2018, Zibanejad scored a goal in the final for Sweden to help them win the 2018 IIHF World Championship.
Zibanejad was raised in Huddinge, Sweden. His father, Mehrdad, is from Iran and his mother, Ritva, is from Paltamo, Finland. Mehrdad, a Christian, left Iran in 1983 due to religious persecution following two years of mandatory military service in the Iran–Iraq War.
Mika's maternal half-brother, Monir Kalgoum, is also an ice hockey player who played professionally for teams in several lower-tier European leagues, most notably Huddinge IK and AIK IF in Sweden's HockeyAllsvenskan and Milton Keynes Lightning in the United Kingdom.
Zibanejad is fluent in English, Persian, Finnish and Swedish.
Zibanejad is married to Irma Helin, a Swedish footballer and sportscaster.
2011-2016 |