Yanni Kaldis

Canadian ice hockey player
Ice hockey player
Yanni Kaldis
Kaldis with Cornell in 2019
Born (1995-09-30) September 30, 1995 (age 28)
Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Defenseman
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams		 Dinamo Minsk
Dornbirn Bulldogs
Bakersfield Condors
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2020–present

Yanni Kaldis (born September 30, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was an All-American for Cornell.[1]

Playing career

Kaldis began his college career in 2016 after two very productive years of junior hockey. Against stiffer competition, his offensive numbers weren't quite as good, but Kaldis' defensive performance still earned him a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie Team. He helped Cornell reach the conference championship game that season and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years.[2]

In his sophomore season, Kaldis showed moderate improvement offensively, but the team took a big step forward by finishing first in the conference standings. It was the program's first regular season crown in 13 years and though they stumbled come playoff time, it was a sing of things to come for the Big Red. Kaldis, himself, followed suit as a junior and ramped up his scoring. He finished third on the team and pushed the team to another regular season title. Cornell returned to the ECAC championship game and was named to the All-Tournament Team despite Cornell losing to Clarkson. Cornell made its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and finally managed to win a game. Kaldis assisted on the opening goal and spurred on a run that ended with a 5–1 victory.

As a senior, Kaldis was named team captain and continued to produce from the back end. It was, however, his defensive exploits that allowed Cornell to be ranked as the top team in the nation towards the end of the season. Cornell ended the regular season with just 2 losses in 29 games and, with the #3 Pairwise ranking, it was a mathematical certainty that the Big Red would be selected for the NCAA Tournament for a 4th year in a row.[3] Unfortunately, just prior to Cornell's quarterfinal match with Princeton, both Harvard and Yale withdrew from the conference tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the remaining six team held onto hope that the tournament would continue, a day later the conference announced the cancellation of the tournament.[4]

In spite of the disappointment about how his final season with Cornell ended, Kaldis' performance earned him All-American honors and he was able to sign a two-year contract with the Bakersfield Condors after graduation.[5] Due to a delay to the start of the following AHL season, Kaldis began the year in Austria, playing for the Dornbirn Bulldogs on loan. After joining Bakersfield, Kaldis established himself as a steady defender and helped the Condors win the Pacific Division playoffs, the only postseason title awarded that year.[6]

Following three seasons with the Condors, Kaldis left North America and was signed to a one-year contract with Belarusian club, HC Dinamo Minsk of the KHL, on 10 July 2023.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Dawson College QCHL 32 5 12 17 30 2 0 0 0 0
2013–14 Dawson College QCHL 33 20 18 38 59 3 0 4 4 4
2014–15 Nanaimo Clippers BCHL 54 9 38 47 43 19 4 2 6 6
2015–16 Nanaimo Clippers BCHL 58 9 54 63 28 14 5 7 12 12
2016–17 Cornell University ECAC 35 1 13 14 26 — — — — —
2017–18 Cornell University ECAC 33 4 15 19 14 — — — — —
2018–19 Cornell University ECAC 36 4 24 28 20 — — — — —
2019–20 Cornell University ECAC 29 5 19 24 4 — — — — —
2020–21 Dornbirn Bulldogs ICEHL 34 2 11 13 18 — — — — —
2020–21 Bakersfield Condors AHL 28 0 7 7 6 6 0 0 0 2
2021–22 Bakersfield Condors AHL 53 7 24 31 28 5 0 4 4 2
2022–23 Bakersfield Condors AHL 51 6 20 26 27 2 0 0 0 0
2023–24 Dinamo Minsk KHL 56 7 16 23 30 6 0 1 1 0
AHL totals 132 13 51 64 61 13 0 4 4 4

Awards and honors

Award Year
ECAC All-Rookie Team 2016–17 [8]
All-ECAC Third Team 2017–18 [9]
All-ECAC Second Team 2018–19 [10]
ECAC All-Tournament Team 2019 [11]
All-ECAC First Team 2019–20 [12]
AHCA East Second Team All-American 2019–20 [1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cornell Men's Hockey Media Guide Pages 59-88 (History and Records)" (PDF). Cornell Big Red. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "Men's Division I PairWise Rankings - College Hockey | USCHO.com".
  4. ^ "ECAC Hockey Cancels Remainder of Men's Tournament". ecachockey.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "Men's Hockey's Kaldis Signs Two-Year AHL Pact". Cornell Big Red. March 8, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  6. ^ "American Hockey League Announces Details for Pacific Division Playoffs". OurSports Central. May 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "Canadian defenseman Yanni Kaldis with move to Dinamo" (in Russian). HC Dinamo Minsk. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  8. ^ "League Announces Postseason Award Winners". ECAC Hockey. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  9. ^ "ECAC Hockey Announces All-League Teams". ECAC Hockey. 2018-03-13.
  10. ^ "ECAC Hockey Announces Men's All-League Teams". ecachockey.com. March 18, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  11. ^ "2019 ECAC Men's Hockey Championship Fan Guide". ECAC Hockey. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  12. ^ "ECAC Hockey Announces 2019-20 All-League Selections". ecachockey.com. March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.

External links

  • Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database