How many Russian players play nhl. Who is the most effective Russian hockey player in the NHL?

The National Hockey League is the professional association of clubs in Canada and the United States. appeared in 1917 and became one of the first professional leagues in the world, uniting 4 teams. In North America, it stands alongside the major sports leagues of other disciplines: NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, Major League Baseball. In the 2017/18 season, 31 teams from 30 cities in the United States and Canada competed for the Stanley Cup.

According to the results of the 2017/18 Stanley Cup season, only two Russians were listed in the rating of the best players in the NHL: Alexander Radulov, Evgeny Kuznetsov did not reach a few points to the rating.

Alexander Ovechkin ranked 22nd according to TSN. The hockey player has notably dropped in the list of the best players in the NHL, gaining only 70 points and 49 goals in the season, and the playoff series was completely mediocre. It is not easy to admit this, but Alexander is heading towards the middle peasants. Let's believe that the sniper will recover from the state of professional degradation, otherwise we will lose him.

In the first half of the NHL season, Alexander Ovechkin lagged behind Vladimir Tarasenko in the number of shots on target. Ovi also shared the championship with the number of goals scored, while one cannot but mention the hockey player's 3 hat-tricks.

Alexander Radulov showed not the best results in the regular season, and therefore ended up at the end of the ranking, but showed himself excellently in the team and played the playoffs quite well. Radulov is growing in direct proportion to how the hopes for his game are growing.

Evgeny Kuznetsov lacked a few points to get into the final rating.

In the first half of the season, Andrey Vasilevsky from the Tampa Bay team showed himself. The goalkeeper has 26 wins, 2.04 goals per match and 93.5% of reflected shots on goal.

Nikita Kucherov from the same Tampa became the best player in the first half of the 2017/18 NHL season. His goals and points indicators (on average per game) were pleasantly surprising. The hockey player has distinguished himself and shows great promise. Kucherov has a positive influence on the team, and during the season he played well with Stephen Stamkos. Obviously, Nikita Kucherov is the most productive regular season player.

Russian NHL players 2017/18 (snipers, regular season)

Russian goalkeepers NHL 2017/18 (regular season)

2017/18 NHL Playoff Series Statistics

According to bookmakers, the main favorite of the 2018/19 season in the NHL are the Lightning hockey players. There is nothing surprising in this: unexpectedly for everyone, who left the post of general manager of the club a month before the start of the regular season, Steve Yizerman did a tremendous job, gathering in Florida a team consisting of young talents and already formed stars of the first magnitude.

The highest level of individual skill of the leaders - forwards Stephen Stemkos and Nikita Kucherov, defenders Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh and goalkeeper Andrey Vasilevsky, multiplied by a decent depth of the squad, gives Tampa Bay fans every reason to count on winning the second Stanley Cup in the history of the organization.

The Lightnings were good last season, when they won a record number of victories in the regular season (54 in 82 games), and should add more. The Russian defender Mikhail Sergachev, who fired after the exchange from Montreal, and the Canadian striker Braden Point, who scored 32 goals, are still working out the newcomer's standard contracts and did not have time to reveal their full potential.

Yes, in the face of the Toronto Maple Leafs club, which signed the most status free agent of the offseason-2018, John Tavares, John Cooper's charges have appeared, perhaps, an even more serious competitor than last year's Washington. But if nothing supernatural happens, like the injury of the captain Stemkos, who has a voluminous medical record, Kucherov and company should, like last year, again become the first in the Eastern Conference and receive the advantage of the home court until the late stages of the playoffs.

However, despite the fact that most of the key performers of the Tampa Bay club are still quite young and are only at their peak, the team's so-called champion window will not be open forever. The fact is that now there are enough hockey players in its composition, whose fees are significantly lower than their real market value.

In addition to Sergachev and Point, these include Vasilevsky, who earns modest by the standards of the Vezina Trophy contender $ 3.5 million a year and completed the last regular season with the best +36 utility in the team, as well as striker Yanni Gurde with his purely symbolic salary of $ 1 million.

Consequently, soon the successors of Yzerman's case will have to make painful decisions about parting with one of the really important or even backbone players.

It is impossible to deceive the hard salary ceiling, under which all current Lightning hockey players will not have enough space already in the 2019/20 championship. Therefore, with the implementation of title ambitions, the team from Florida should hurry up so as not to go down in the history of one of the strongest organizations, which for several years in a row was very close to the coveted trophy, but did not manage to get it.

Nikita Kucherov signs an eight-year contract extension with @TBLightning.

He is coming off a career year in which he reached the 100-point mark for the first time (39-61-100), becoming the third player in franchise history to hit the milestone. https://t.co/UB2UGWTMbB #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/HyBRne0VeY

- NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) Jul 10, 2018 Free transfer

"Washington": how long will Ovechkin and Kuznetsov's "champion hangover" last?

The hackneyed expression that defending any title is much more difficult than winning it was not born out of nothing - and the Capitals in the upcoming season have every chance to confirm the time-tested thesis. The team, which has been vigorously celebrating its historical success throughout the summer, will start a new regular season with minimal changes in the roster and at a certain stage will certainly experience problems with motivation.

The metropolitan division, in which Washington plays, cannot be called the most competitive in the league (both teams from New York and Carolina are at different stages of restructuring and most likely they will not deliver big problems to the leaders), and therefore a ticket to the play off anywhere from the "Great Eight" will not go away. But a decline in the opening or during the regular season is still inevitable, and the prerequisites for it are much more significant than the notorious "champion hangover".

First, the Capitals are entering the season with a new mentor: for the first time in a quarter century, a reigning Stanley Cup winner has castled on the coaching bridge, replacing outgoing Islanders Barry Trotz with his former assistant Todd Reirden. The 47-year-old specialist has been working at the headquarters of the Moscow team since 2014, but he will still need some time to get used to the role of the main person on the bench.

Secondly, the power forward Tom Wilson, one of the shadow heroes of the last playoffs, faces a long disqualification for a rough power trick in the preseason match with St. Louis Blues - and the shock three formed during the last championship with him, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the composition, at least at first, will be destroyed.

Therefore, the Russian fans of the team as a whole should be more than restrained in their attitude to the local failures of “Washington” (and there will certainly be such!). Especially after the starting 7-0 win over the Boston Bruins. The same “Pittsburgh Penguins” last fall allowed themselves to lose individual meetings with a nightmare score of 1:10, which did not prevent them from coming in good shape to the elimination matches. Next spring, the Capitals will again be greeted fully armed, and what kind of hockey they will show from October to early December is the twentieth thing.

Los Angeles: Kovalchuk returned seriously and for a long time?

Perhaps the main intrigue of the regular NHL championship associated with Russian hockey players is the level of play of Ilya Kovalchuk. Indeed, the overseas striker at a very respectable 35-year-old age for an athlete did not return just like that, but for the only award separating him from entering the Triple Golden Club, and he did not hide the seriousness of his intentions to compete for the Stanley Cup from the very beginning.

Therefore, the requirements for him will be appropriate: the Kings, who have not even made it into the second round of the playoffs since 2014, believe that such an experienced and high-class sniper will give results from the very first official match. And no slippage at the start will be forgiven him.

There is not the slightest doubt - in the offseason, Kovalchuk did everything in his power to return to the strongest league on the planet in optimal condition. Otherwise, he simply would not have left SKA, in which the forward and annually qualify for the Gagarin Cup. But Ilya went to America solely for the sake of satisfying his own ambitions and with an actual decrease in salary (after deducting all taxes in Los Angeles, he will earn less than in St. Petersburg). Therefore, the Olympic champion Pyeongchang should not have any problems with dedication or motivation.

Another thing is that Kovalchuk will actually have to get used to the NHL calendar full of matches and flights, which has not become significantly more favorable to the players in the five years spent by the striker in Russia. For this reason, overseas experts agree that Los Angeles took a decent risk by concluding a contract with Ilya for three years at once. But if the Kings' bet ultimately plays out, the team can actually make a breakthrough. After all, one of the main problems of John Stevens' squad last season was the mediocre realization of the majority, and the Russian with a magnificent throw can definitely solve it.

Another reason to get to Friday night’s game early? After playing five seasons in the KHL, Ilya Kovalchuk returns to the NHL as a member of the Kings. The 35-year-old has 417-399 = 816 in 816 career NHL games, the eighth-most points by a Russian player in League history. pic.twitter.com/08LHHKQZRd

- LAKingsPR (@LAKingsPR) 3. října 2018

"Carolina": who is Svechnikov and how good is he?

There are enough Russian performers in the NHL who simply have to take a step forward in the 2018/19 season. This is Vladimir Tarasenko, who already has a star status, thanks to whom St. Louis is expected to return to the number of playoff participants. And Valery Nichushkin, who is still considered promising, is making a second attempt to gain a foothold in the Dallas Stars. And Bogdan Kiselevich, who stayed too long in Russia, signed a contract with the Florida Panthers in the summer (but, unfortunately, already managed to get an unpleasant injury during the pre-season training). Most of the attention, however, will be focused on the person of Andrei Svechnikov - the striker chosen by the Hurricanes under the overall second number of the last draft, which suggests that the 18-year-old hockey player has truly stellar potential.

In the very first season of his professional career, a native of Barnaul, who has been playing overseas since 2016 (and therefore six months ago, almost unknown fans who are not interested in junior tournaments) are able to loudly declare themselves and join the battle for the Calder Trophy - a prize for the best newcomer regular season. Svechnikov, whose older brother, Evgeny, also plays in the Detroit Red Wings system in North America, is actually very talented and, moreover, is ready for the NHL in terms of his physical condition, which is quite a rare occurrence at his age.

Experts in the junior leagues of the USA and Canada call Andrei's strongest quality the forward's versatility, which makes it very difficult to neutralize him now. The Russian rookie of "Carolina" is both a strong sniper and a sensible playmaker, can benefit the team both in realizing the majority and in "killing" the penalty time. In his person, the club, which has not played in the playoffs since the distant 2009, received a real diamond, which should certainly shine in the hands of a competent coach.

Finally, the Hurricanes are an excellent platform for development - this is a young growing organization, where Svechnikov will most likely be trusted from day one, without forcing him to go through a sieve of farm clubs and gnaw his teeth into a place in the fourth link.

Columbus: what will happen to Panarin and Bobrovsky?

The contract saga of Artemy Panarin, who scored 82 points in 81 NHL regular season games last season, seems to have come to an end. The striker is before the opening of the training camp and does not intend to break his earlier promise not to negotiate with the general manager of the club Jarmo Kekalainen during the season. Considering that already next summer one of the leaders and top scorer of Columbus becomes an unrestricted free agent, his exchange is more and more likely every day. Some insiders even claim that it will take place even before 2019.

His unwillingness to sign an eight-year agreement with the current club (and allegedly a desire to move to a metropolis like New York, as the overseas media wrote about more than once), Panarin puts the Columbus management in an extremely difficult position. Kekalainen, like any other normal functionary, does not seek to part with his main asset of his own free will, but he will still have to do this in order to prevent the forward from leaving for another team without any compensation.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that the value of Artemy on the exchange market is falling every day. In nine months, under favorable circumstances, it will be possible to get it completely free of charge, and now the Blue Jackets will require substantial compensation in order to stay afloat after parting with the striker.

The split between Columbus and Panarin, widely covered throughout the summer of 2018 both in the domestic and foreign press, overshadowed the fact that the club's relations with another eminent Russian, two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, are developing in a similar way. His contract also expires at the end of the season, and so far the goalkeeper has not expressed much desire to issue a new one.

Kekalainen, according to rumors, expects to convince the ward, and the relatively free payroll of the Blue Jackets, where the eight-figure fee desired by one of the strongest goalkeepers of the planet can easily fit in, should help him in this. But a scenario in which both Russian stars of the Ohio team will finish the regular season in different sweaters is quite likely. And neither the Finnish manager nor the head coach of the team, John Tortorella, is happy about this, to put it mildly.

The Russians in the camps of the NHL clubs. Who will start the season at the base?

Only five teams avoid Russians.

Capital division

Washington Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Dmitry Zaitsev.

Carolina Hurricanes: Valentin Zykov, Sergei Tolchinsky.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Sergey Bobrovsky, Vitaly Abramov, Artemy Panarin.

New Jersey Devils: Nikita Popugaev, Yaroslav Dyblenko.

New York Islanders: Nikolay Kulemin.

New York Rangers: Pavel Buchnevich, Alexey Bereglazov, Sergey Zborovsky, Alexander Georgiev.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeni Malkin.

Philadelphia Flyers: Ivan Provorov, Radel Fazleev, German Rubtsov, Mikhail Vorobiev, Ivan Kosorenkov.

To Malkin or Shipachev? Five NHL teams for Danis Zaripov

“Chicago” is also considering whether to take another Russian striker.

Each club of the Capital Division has at least one Russian player, and most of them will have a place at the base. Of course, Buchnevich, Bereglazov and Kulemin will play for the teams from New York. In Washington, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov will go on the ice. Odds Dmitry Zaitsev get into the base small. In Pittsburgh, no doubt, Evgeny Malkin will continue to rock, in Columbus - Sergei Bobrovsky and newcomer Artemy Panarin.

One of the main intrigues is whether the striker will be able to get into the main team of the Blue Jackets Vitaly Abramov... According to him, he is already ready to play. There are now five young Russian hockey players in Philadelphia, and if Ivan Provorov is the iron player of the foundation, then nothing is guaranteed to the rest.

One of the main intrigues is whether forward Vitaly Abramov will be able to get into the main team of the Blue Jackets. According to him, he is already ready to play.

The hardest thing for the Russians will be in New Jersey and Carolina. Odds Nikita Popugaeva play in the next season are not very big, but Yaroslav Dyblenko most likely will start the championship in the AHL and will wait for the chance to play for the base. Tolchinsky and Zykov have been trying to get their chance at Carolina for several years now, and the new season could be a turning point for them.

Atlantic Division

Buffalo Sabers: Vasily Glotov, Victor Antipin.

Boston Bruins: Anton Khudobin.

Detroit Red Wings: Evgeny Svechnikov.

Montreal Canadiens: Nikita Shcherbak.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Mikhail Sergachev, Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Andrey Vasilevsky, Alexey Lipanov, Alexander Volkov, Oleg Sosunov.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Nikita Zaitsev, Nikita Soshnikov, Rinat Valiev.

Florida Panthers: Evgeny Dadonov, Maxim Mamin, Nikolay Belov.

The two most Russian teams in the Atlantic Division are Tampa and Toronto. The southerners invited seven Russian hockey players to their training camp, of which three are base players, and one more is Mikhail Sergachev- has a great chance to become the main defender of the team. Alexander Volkov and Oleg Sosunov with a high degree of probability will play in the AHL or a league below, but Alexey Lipanov will have to go to OHL Barry Colts.

Five hockey players began training at Toronto, but Vladimir Bobylev and Nikita Korostelev have already gone to the location of the AHL team. Zaitsev and Soshnikov will play as a base, and Valiev, as in previous seasons, will balance between and the AHL. Vasily Glotov unlikely to play for the base of "Buffalo", in contrast to the newcomer Viktor Antipin. Anton Khudobin will continue to play the role of Tuukka Rask's replacement, and Shcherbak will from time to time be able to play for Montreal, which has already ceased to be Russian.

Antipin: follow the path of Malkin? For starters, I just want to play in the NHL

The decision to leave for the NHL, wishes from Znark, “the Zaripov case” and a career in “Metallurg” - in an interview with defender Viktor Antipin.

The main question is whether Evgeny Svechnikov will be able to start the season at Detroit. Or does he still need to play in the AHL after winning the Calder Cup? It will be interesting to see how the forward will adapt again. Evgeny Dadonov and how will the adaptation go Maxim Mamina... Both players will play for Florida in the new season.

Central division

Winnipeg Jets: Dmitry Kulikov.

Dallas Stars: Alexander Radulov, Denis Guryanov.

Colorado Avalanche: Andrey Mironov, Semyon Varlamov, Nail Yakupov, Nikita Zadorov, Sergey Boykov.

Minnesota Wild: Dmitry Sokolov.

Nashville Predators: Alexey Emelin, Pavel Koltygin, Yakov Trenin.

St. Louis Blues: Alexey Toropchenko, Dmitry Sergeev, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev, Klim Kostin.

Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Anisimov.

Only in "Minnesota" there will be no Russians. "Savages" invited to the gathering of the forward Dmitry Sokolov, but he was already sent to the junior league. In "Chicago" and "Winnipeg" there is only one Russian hockey player, from whom they will expect a confident and reliable game. Four Russians can start at the start of Colorado, it will be interesting to see how they will adapt to this hockey Andrey Mironov, and here Sergey Boykov will probably play in the AHL.

All attention in Dallas will be focused on star rookie Alexander Radulov, but Denis Guryanov also has a good chance to play a dozen matches in the coming season.

All attention in Dallas will be focused on star rookie Alexander Radulov, but also Denis Guryanov there is a good chance to play a dozen matches in the coming season. In Nashville and Yakov Trenin will make another attempt to get into the main team. There are five Russian hockey players in the St. Louis training camp. Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev will play as a base, and the future Klim Kostina will be determined in the coming weeks.

Then Bobrovsky was traded to Columbus, where in the first season for the new club he won the prize for the best goalkeeper - Vezina Trophy.

His natural modesty does not match his aggressive, spectacular and agile style of playing at goal. Low stance, slides from corner to corner, rescues in desperate situations. For the image of an epic superhero, Bobrovsky lacks team prizes. Yes, he has a full set of World Championships medals, and that's a lot, but Sergei certainly deserves more. (Marat SAFIN)

Having come after the lockout at the nightmare at that time “Chicago”, he, albeit spurred, went with him to the conference finals four years later, and as the first issue. The next season, the Blackhawks took the Stanley Cup without him, and his back became very bad. The end of his career turned out to be crumpled, but, one way or another, he is 23rd in the number of victories in the entire history of the NHL, the first Russian to overcome the landmark mark of 300 victories, and 28th in history in terms of the number of shutouts. He is also the first Russian goalkeeper to win the Stanley Cup, the first Russian goalkeeper to become the highest paid NHL player in his role, and the first Russian NHL player to go to jail. It's funny, but true. (Igor ERONKO)

6., the protector (1970)

NHL clubs: (1992-1995), (1995-1996), (1996-2009)
Championship statistics: 771 (152 + 619) points in 1068 games, "+148"
Stanley Cup stats: 117 (24 + 93) points in 164 games, "+28"
Stanley Cups: 2 (1994, 1999)

In terms of average performance and the number of points scored, Teeth is one of the twenty best defenders in NHL history. There is no stronger attacking defense player from Russia in the best league in the world and never has been. Unless you can put Sergei Gonchar next to him. However, the CSKA pupil, for all his skills - working with the puck, excellent skating and excellent vision of the court - had other trump cards that were already needed directly in defense. The choice of position, the ability to read the situation and interrupt someone else's pass, excellent action with a club - all this was appreciated by the old regime in “Dallas”.

For the conservative coach, as he himself later admitted, Zubov became one of the most beloved players with whom he had ever worked. It was under Hitchcock that the Russian honed his skills, becoming a gorgeous double-sided defender. In winning the Stanley Cup "Dallas" in 1999, Zubov's merit is great. He along with, and was considered a key player on that team. The best utility in the playoffs (+13) is no joke.

For Zubov, that Stanley Cup was the second in his career. He had won the trophy with the Rangers five years earlier. In the 1993/94 season, the Russian did an incredible thing: with 89 points scored, he became the top scorer of the New York team. Among the defenders, then Ray Burke from “Boston” took the lead with two points more. Since then, no one has even been able to repeat Zubov's result from the players of his role.

Perhaps the Russian has achieved more in terms of performance, but a couple of times politics intervened in his career. From Rangers to Pittsburgh a season after his Stanley Cup triumph, he was traded so that he, as they say, did not completely overshadow American defender Brian Leach. In "Penguins" Zubov unwittingly crossed the road. Tom did not like the fact that the defender began to conduct the majority no worse than himself. On this basis, as they say, the conflict took place. Naturally, the club's management made a choice in favor of the whim of its main star. The ensuing exchange in “Dallas” became a blessing for Zubov. At the end of his career, he switched to coaching and will try to prove himself in the coming season with. (Mikhail ZISLIS)

5., striker (1978)

NHL clubs: (2001-2016)
Championship statistics: 918 (314 + 604) points in 953 games, "+249"
Stanley Cup stats: 113 (42 + 71) points in 157 matches, "+34"
Stanley Cups: 2 (2002, 2008)
Individual prizes: Lady Byng Trophy (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Frank J. Selkie Trophy (2008, 2009, 2010)

Even playing on essentially one leg with reassembled ligaments, after which people, especially 37-year-olds, usually do not return to hockey, he remained the leading player of Detroit in his last season. The most effective and at the same time effective, having a huge impact on team play, on puck control (indicators of puck control time without it on the ice dropped by tens of percent), on the harmony of decisions, on mood and self-confidence. As soon as he left, the Red Wings broke off a unique streak of 25 playoffs in a row, with Ken Holland struggling to extend it with multiple moves in the market to replace the star-studded center-forward who was retiring at home. So that you understand how Datsyuk influenced partners, look at what he turned into, who only through the efforts of Pavel knocked out a luxurious contract for himself.

In fact, Datsyuk, for a number of reasons, could and should have been at the top of this list. For all the same showiness, no one stood next to him, except perhaps, but he played a little and could not boast of the same influence on all aspects of the game, while Pavel's efficiency did not suffer from the showiness. On the contrary, she was outrageous, which is not only rare - it is a unique skill. Almost every movement and crazy aesthetics gives, and is always aimed at exacerbation. Feints - you will swing. Often - branded, home-made, often based on interaction with the opponent's stick, and he brought this skill to unimaginable heights. Hidden programs that even partners were not always able to read. One of the best backhand in the league. Stunning ingenuity and creativity - it was not for nothing that he was nicknamed "The Magician". At the same time, being an excellent master of playing with the puck, he was one of the best in the NHL even without it. And at its peak, he simply had no equal in universalism. A backcheck god who could simultaneously dominate the attack and completely exclude the leading centers from the game. Only Fedorov was capable of such a Russian.

The most remarkable thing about Datsyuk is the absolute self made man. He made himself, turning from a puny, not always obligatory feint of a far from gifted guy, who was called a "spider" for his thin arms and legs, into a superstar, to whom the whole league, without exception, was imbued with great respect. Who amazed everyone with her hard work. And regularly arranged magic sessions on the ice. Mixed in with the finest hockey intellect. No wonder Arthur Clarke said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." (Igor ERONKO)

4., striker (1971)

NHL clubs: (1991-1998), (1999-2002), (2002-2003)
Championship statistics: 779 (437 + 342) points in 702 games, "+42"
Stanley Cup stats: 70 (35 + 35) points in 64 matches, "+8"
Stanley Cups: No
Individual prizes: Calder Trophy (1992), Maurice Richard Trophy (2000, 2001)

Dozens of Soviet players who jumped into the NHL as soon as such an opportunity opened up quickly became their own in new clubs and received well-deserved recognition, coupled with big dollars. However, no domestic hockey player before the appearance of Alexander Ovechkin made such a splash in North America as Pavel Bure. Crazy starting speed, technique and superb shot - this combination of elite skills is perhaps not experienced by any other player since the early 1990s.

Bure not only brought the audience into a state close to ecstasy with his rapid breakthroughs. Although in this he had no equal, in all honesty, in the NHL there were almost no. He knew how to do a show, but at the same time gave results: not only grazing on someone else's blue line waiting for the puck, but also helped the defense and regularly appeared in Vancouver in minority brigades.

In the third year of his stay in North America, the Russian pulled the mediocre Vancouver on his own shoulders to the Stanley Cup final. That episode was shown on our television, so the scale of Bure's talent at its peak cannot be belittled. He was chased by almost the entire Rangers, packed with living legends and crazy talents to overflowing. At the present time, the NHL strictly forbids attacking stars, protecting them as the gold reserve of the United States. Then Bure, who possessed "bodyguards", still got it hard. He answered extremely rarely, but in the very playoffs in the series with “Dallas” an angry Russian pushed his opponent's aggressor Shane Churla with all his might in the head with his elbow. For this act, Bure got off with a ridiculous fine of $ 500. The popular Canadian expert described the reception of the Vancouver striker as Mother of all elbows - roughly translated, this means "the progenitor of elbow strikes."

Bure took two of his "Maurice Richard" already in "Florida" (in 1994, when he set a personal record of 60 goals in "Vancouver", this prize had not yet been awarded), where he was exchanged on his own initiative - by that time his relationship with the leadership of the Canucks hopelessly deteriorated, and the injuries began to pursue one after another. Sore knees did not allow the attacker to achieve more. He underwent several operations, was treated for a long time and was forced to end his career at 32, already playing for the Rangers. Bure is in the top five in NHL history in terms of the number of goals scored per game on average (0.63), behind only Mike Bossi and Mario Lemieux, as well as two Canadians, Si Denneny and Cecil Day, who played in the 1920s. (Mikhail ZISLIS)

3., striker (1985)

NHL clubs:(2005 - present)
Championship statistics: 1035 (558 + 477) points in 921 matches, "+84"
Stanley Cup stats: 90 (46 + 44) points in 97 games, "+5"
Stanley Cups: No
Individual prizes: Calder Trophy (2006), Ted Lindsay Eward (2008, 2009, 2010), Hart Trophy (2008, 2009, 2013), Art Ross Trophy (2008), Maurice Richard Trophy (2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) ...

In terms of the media component, popularity overseas and in Russia and, of course, sniper skills, Alexander is unconditionally number one. Not a single Russian hockey player (and a few Canadian - in the 21st century only Crosby and) has burst into the NHL with such a fuss, turning an uninteresting franchise into an object of general attention.

The early Ovechkin was simultaneously effective but even more effective: his unique speed and power dribbling, killer shot and crushing hits were one of the main wonders of the post-lockout NHL. Over time, Ovi changed, having gone through several reshuffles of the Washington coaching staff, learned to play for the team in a more energy-saving mode, but at 31 he lived to the point that calls to encroach on the sacred and exchange him from the Capitals are louder and louder.

Ovechkin has already become Great, and not only in terms of the nickname, which seems to have always been with him, but the time of euphoria and endless praise is leaving more and more rapidly. The unbearable question “where is the Cup?” Looms as quickly as logically.

So far there is no Cup, no final, or even the final of the conference. And Ovechkin may not be personally to blame for this as much as he wants, but the unwritten law calls the captain of the Caps responsible for all of Washington's failures. In the modern NHL, there are enough stellar veterans and players in their 30s who have not yet received a chance to cook dumplings or bathe children in a cherished bowl, but there is hardly at least one who dreams of taking a trophy more than Ovi. He has already gone down in history - but you can stay in it in completely different ways. (Pavel KLIMOVITSKY)

2., striker (1969)

NHL clubs: (1990-2003), (2003-2005), (2005-2008), (2008-2009)
Championship statistics: 1179 (483 + 696) points in 1248 matches, "+261"
Stanley Cup stats: 176 (52 + 124) points in 183 games, "+38",
Stanley Cups: 3 (1997, 1998, 2002)
Individual prizes: Hart Trophy (1994), Frank Selkie Trophy (1994, 1996), Ted Lindsay Eward (1994)

Unlike Datsyuk, another brilliant Russian center did not bother too much with showiness. With all that he could do everything on ice and even more, being much more gifted by nature. Of course, sometimes he gave out such that everyone grabbed his head, but efficiency was still his key feature. In this regard, he was just a machine capable of rolling everything that came to hand into the ice. Do not suppress with power or aggression, but leave them out of work, destroying with tremendous speed and skating to the envy of everyone, perseverance, making optimal decisions.

His opponents hated him - he annoyed everyone so much that nothing could be done with him. And he was so versatile that the only position he did not play in Detroit was the goalkeeper. Although, as the fans joked, Fedorov could well impose competition if he took up goalkeeper skills. And Jimmy Devellano, no longer joking, quite seriously said that if Sergei spent a whole season in the position of a defender, where he had to periodically play in the Red Wings in tandem with, he would have won the Norris Trophy. And even Ken Hitchcock, who knows a lot about defense, later, in “Columbus”, also sometimes put Fedorov in defense.

He won the competition for the most powerful click, repeated Mike Gartner's speed record, fooled goalkeepers with hidden wrist, scored five goals per game, which Detroit won 5-4 in overtime, became the first European to win the Hart Trophy, and the first Russian , who took the Selke Trophy and scored 1000 points, and still holds the record for the most points scored in overtime. Incidentally, this is a characteristic moment. When super-efforts were required, he was always ready to get them out of himself. And finish off the unlucky opponent. Or pull out the game. Or just do everything for his team to win. The perfect killing machine. Endowed with the most advanced weapons. And has collected an impressive collection of awards. (Igor ERONKO)

1., striker (1986)

NHL clubs:(2006 - present)
Championship statistics: 832 (328 + 504) points in 706 games, "+75"
Stanley Cup stats: 157 (58 + 99) points in 149 matches, "+17"
Stanley Cups: 3 (2009, 2016, 2017)
Individual prizes: Calder Trophy (2007), Conn Smythe Trophy (2009), Art Ross Trophy (2009, 2012), Hart Trophy (2012), Ted Lindsay Eward (2012)

On June 27, 2004, an event took place in Raleigh, North Carolina that shaped the future of the post-lockout NHL. No one will answer your question, what would have happened if “Washington” suddenly took a chance and saw in Evgeni Malkin a more promising hockey player who could become the foundation of a whole link than in his partner in the youth team. Have the Caps made it to the East Finals with Gino at least once? What would come of Ovy and Sidney Crosby's bunch?

Who knows? Fantasy will remain in the virtual world, but in reality Malkin is already the most titled Russian hockey player in the history of the NHL. Eugene is only 30, and how much more he can win is scary to imagine.

Malkin will never be such a solid and versatile forward in attack and defense as Fedorov and Datsyuk. Not because he does not know how - just in “Pittsburgh” from him initially decided to sculpt the attacking center with the task of “machines” on the set of points.

And if not for the injuries - the question of the first issue of our rating would not have been already three or four years ago. There has never been a Russian hockey player in the NHL who has dominated the league so much - albeit in small, injury-free career segments. Malkin may not show even 70 percent of his capabilities, but still manages to go above the point per game schedule, and then become the top scorer of the Stanley Cup.

That he is not appreciated and for being too taciturn they rolled past the top 100 of the NHL, including the conditional Toews, is unpleasant, but Evgeny should not worry. He won three Stanley Cups, "Hart", "Art Ross", "Conn Smythe", "Calder" - he no longer needs to prove something to too demanding experts. (Pavel KLIMOVITSKY)

2014 may go down in history as the year a star rose Andrey Vasilevsky... We learned that a talented goalkeeper lives and plays in the capital of Bashkiria much earlier. However, it was in the past year that Vasilevsky climbed a step higher, ceasing to be just a young and promising player. It is symbolic that at the beginning of the year he took away from Malmö the last award in youth hockey, as if turning over this page. Vasilevsky finally switched to adult hockey with his amplitude of ups and downs. For the way Andrei played in the Gagarin Cup and at the debut World Championship, he can be rated "excellent" without any exaggeration.

Vasilevsky put not a full stop at the World Championship, but a beautiful comma. In order not to spoil the impression of the year, he had to pass the AHL test. Until December, it seemed that the young Russian goalkeeper had drowned in the lowest overseas league. What top ten can we talk about if Vasilevsky loses the competition even in the Tampa Bay farm club? However, it took the Ufa prodigy only a month to break into our rating. Having played with 30,000 spectators and becoming the player of the week in the AHL, he was called up to Tampa, where he showed himself in all his glory. ... Bye Nabokov sitting behind him, Varlamov heals trauma, Khudobin fails the season and Bobrovsky just beginning to regain his former condition, Vasilevsky ends the year in the status of the strongest Russian goalkeeper.