After a successful decade spent in Russia coming up through the junior and senior ranks of the Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow programs, Nikolai Borschevsky would participate in the 1992 Winter Olympics in France on the United Team. In 8 games, Borschevsky scored 7 goals and added 2 assists which put him in the Top 10 in the tournament’s scoring race and would help lead his team to the gold medal win over Canada. NHL scouts took notice and Nikolai was drafted in the 1992 NHL Entry draft (4th Round, 77th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He joined the Maple Leafs for the 1992-93 season and made an immediate impact by scoring 34 goals and adding 40 assists in 78 regular season games played. The Leafs would face-off against a heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings team in the first round of the playoffs that spring and fought back from a two games to none deficit to force a game seven in Detroit. After Doug Gilmour scored late to send the game to overtime, Borschevsky played the role of overtime hero deflecting a Bob Rouse shot into the back of the Red Wings net to send Toronto to the second round against the St. Louis Blues. The following season, Borschevsky would continue to produce while he was in the lineup but he would miss nearly half the season due to injuries. After a slow start to the lockout shortened 1994-95 season, Borschevsky was traded to the Calgary Flames where he’d finish out the season before signing as a free agent with the Dallas Stars prior to the 1995-96 season. He would only dress in 12 games with the Stars before leaving the NHL to play in Germany with the Kolner Haie to finish out that season. Borschevsky would return to Russia for the 1996-97 season and played two more years with Spartak Moscow before retiring in 1998. In all, Borschevsky played in 162 career NHL regular season games, scoring 49 goals and adding 73 assists for 122 points.
