Humiliation by America: why SKA star forwards do not take root in the NHL

Kuzmenko as Kaprizov

Of course, the main loss was the departure of Andrei Kuzmenko, who was the leader of the army attack for the past three years. Such forwards – technical, fast, creative, able to single-handedly decide the outcome of the match – there are only a few left in Russia. And all over the world, including the strongest league on the planet, they are in short supply.

But at the same time, no one will give any guarantee that Kuzmenko will gain a foothold in Vancouver, with whom he signed a one-year contract for 925 thousand dollars. Rather, the opinions of experts differ.

“Kuzmenko should play,” says ex-coach of SKA and the national team Sergei Cherkas. – He has two very strong trump cards, without which it is very difficult in the NHL: speed and technical equipment. Take, for example, Kirill Kaprizov. He has speed, he sees the court perfectly, he skates beautifully – and therefore he plays, fans go to him. Kuzmenko can become like a hockey player: he aims at the goal and can give a pass. But NHL managers do not risk giving a big contract to a player right away until they have seen him in action. Moreover, last season Andrei did not participate in the largest international tournaments as part of the national team – for example, he was not included in the number of participants in the Olympics. You can probably say that it was a gross mistake not to take him to Pyeongchang. But, one way or another, he did not get to the Olympic tournament. Therefore, Vancouver did not dare to risk giving big money with a unilateral contract. But if Kuzmenko shows himself in a year, other money is waiting for him.”

But the former head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plushev is reserved about Kuzmenko’s prospects.

“I don’t know him personally. I don’t know what he has, roughly speaking, behind his soul. Does Andrew speak English or not. The adaptation of the Russians in the NHL is still difficult. This Kaprizov could be forgiven for many things, because he is a gambler. And Kuzmenko, I think, will have problems to enter the squad. Although the guy has the makings of a player. Another question is how much he wants to delve into this matter. We have many examples when our stars from the KHL went there, but after a few months they returned back. One thing does not suit them, then another. And you must understand that you are going to another country, people there with a different mentality, live by different rules. And you have to adapt to them, at least in the locker room… One can only wish good luck to Kuzmenko. If he really believes in himself, then perhaps he will succeed in the NHL.

However, another fact speaks against Kuzmenko – the “techies” from SKA in the style of Kuzmenko are ruthlessly eaten by the overseas league and simply spit out. There are enough such examples, which allows us to talk about a trend. Moreover, for some hockey players from the St. Petersburg club, after an unsuccessful attempt to “conquer America,” not only their careers, but also their lives, went downhill.

Death at the hands of drug dealers

In the early 1990s, Aleksey Yegorov, a pupil of St. Petersburg hockey, was considered the most promising not only in the city, but also in the country. Beating several opponents in a row, giving out a pass that would put all the defense on his ears – he did everything easily and naturally. He played in SKA until 1994, until he sent Boris Mikhailov, who was then the head coach of the team, at one of the training sessions. In the same year, the hockey player was selected by San Jose in the NHL Draft.

According to the recollections of teammates, Yegorov was not particularly eager to cross the ocean, but in 1995 he nevertheless accepted the offer of San Jose, where he was absolutely unlucky with the coach. The Sharks were then headed by Kevin Konstantin, a specialist who disliked the Europeans, and even more so the Russians.

And although in one of the very first matches in the NHL the newcomer made a hat-trick – a rare event for a novice hockey player, the Canadian coach, who prefers straightforward, monotonous, but strictly fulfilling the task of players, practically did not get a chance. Aleksey, who was used to creating on ice, did not fit into this scheme at all. The former SKA player played only nine games in the NHL, most of the career of the Petersburger was marinated in the lower leagues – the AHL and the IHL.

Three years later, he returned to Russia, and here hockey faded into the background. “Druzhki”, with whom Alexey contacted, got him hooked on drugs. All the money earned went there – the forward still managed to play in Russia and Germany.

In March 2002, the body of a hockey player was found on the pavement near one of the houses in the south of the city. According to one version, drug dealers helped him say goodbye to life – it was to meet with them, for a passport pledged, that Alexei then went. Like, beaten and pushed through the window from the 11th floor. According to another, Yegorov himself fell out of the window.

Short flight of the Su-33

Talents equal to him have not appeared in St. Petersburg hockey since then. Perhaps only Maxim Sushinsky could compete. The Su-33 (as the player was nicknamed for its strike power and speed), which won the World Championship with the national team and was recognized as the best player in the Russian championship three times, despite its modest size, could and should have played in the NHL.

Maxim made his first and last attempt in 2000, when he went to Minnesota. The Petersburger failed to realize himself in North America, for which he blamed everyone except himself. Maxim explained his return to his homeland during the season by the fact that in the USA he was “treated like garbage.”

Although Sushinsky started well, having made two doubles in a row in the NHL. Russian fans prepared to follow the new star from Russia, but the Su-33 went out too quickly – he didn’t score in nine matches in a row, scored twice again, and then fought with a team-mate goalkeeper (!) In training and returned to Russia in January 2001 .

At one of the press conferences, Maxim did not forget to offend the head coach of the Wild team, Jacques Lemaire, who was considered one of the main Russophobes in the NHL.

“The root cause of my departure was the coach’s unwillingness to let me out on the ice, I’m a player in my life and I don’t want to be listed under the NHL brand, I have a great desire to play, and not watch hockey from the stands. We have a different understanding of hockey with Lemaire, who is an adherent of the defensive style, but I’m used to the combinational one, ” Sushinsky said then.

Lemaire himself explained the player’s problems this way: “He is undoubtedly talented. But the problem was that he did not try to join the team at all, to find a common language with other players. Sushinsky always kept himself alone.

The Su-33 did not fly again in the NHL, and it is difficult to understand whether Lamer was right. But in any case, Sushinsky is a legend for Russian hockey.

Gusev’s intelligence

A similar fate and Nikita Gusev. The hero of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, playing for SKA, was considered almost the most talented hockey player outside the NHL. Nikita left for the New World in the status of a KHL superstar. In his last season at SKA, the striker set a record for the number of assists in the regular season (65), and together with the playoffs, he brought the number of points scored to 101.

In April 2019, Gusev, at the age of 27, was in the Vegas squad, but never played a single match for the team from the city of roulette – he was traded to the New Jersey Devils, offering an attractive two-year contract for $ 9 million.

The first season with the Devils turned out to be tolerable for the ex-SKA player. He could not become a leader, but scored 44 points – acceptable numbers for a debutant.

However, the New Jersey Devils changed their head coach. The new one – Lindy Ruff – turned out to be a fan of speed and power hockey, and the Russian, who loves to take a break and tinker with the puck, quickly fell out of favor with him. As a result, the Olympic champion gradually ceased to get into the squad, and soon the contract was completely terminated with him.

Then there were two more attempts to gain a foothold in the NHL. But in the Florida Panthers, everything was limited to a month with a small and 11 regular season matches, and in Toronto it didn’t even come to that – only a viewing contract.

Gusev finished last season at SKA, having managed to play at the Beijing Olympics and won silver with the national team. This summer, he again decided to try his hand at the NHL. But the chances of success, according to most experts, if not equal to zero, then not very far from this figure. Gusev’s intellectual and sometimes too intelligent style of play is really rare in the modern NHL. In all clubs, hockey players are required to do a lot of work, including defensive work. An exception may be made for superstars who score 100 points in a season, but such status must be earned. It is also important to find your team and coach. So far, Gusev has had no luck.

A mockery of Tkachev

No luck and Vladimir Tkachev, another “techie” from the SKA, who tried to storm the NHL last season. From St. Petersburg, he, at that moment the team’s top scorer, had to leave due to a conflict with head coach Valery Bragin.

But signing a contract with Los Angeles did not change the situation. In a club from California, an outsider of the league, one of the best Russian strikers was simply not noticed. Three matches in a season looks like a joke. Claims against Tkachev were standard – excessive creativity, low speed, unwillingness to work in defense. In the end, Tkachev, unlike Gusev, decided not to bang his head against the wall and returned to the KHL in the summer – he will spend the next season in his native Avangard.

The only exception in a series of failures was Artemy Panarin, who, leaving the St. Petersburg team as a promising player, has already become a full-fledged star in the NHL. He, unlike the rest of the SKA forwards, was not remade into something “average”, “North American”. Panara’s non-standard on the court, on the contrary, became his trademark and brought millions – now he is the highest paid Russian hockey player overseas, receives $ 11.6 million a year.

Will the 26-year-old Andrei Kuzmenko, with whom we started this material, repeat the path of Panarin, or will he have a short business trip to the West and return home – we will find out next season.