Russian Machine Never Breaks

It’s been a week since we last saw Evgeny Kuznetsov in the flesh, writhing in pain and being strechered off the ice after suffering a knee injury. On Friday, however, the Traktor Chelyabinsk in-game entertainment crew featured him on the Jumbotron early in the first period so that the young Caps prospect could do a bit of advertising. In a photo published on VKontakte – Russia’s most popular social media site – and later posted on Sports.ru, a laughing Kuzya can be seen holding a sign which reads,”Selling Garage.” Underneath, it features a fake phone number. Clever.

Traktor went on to lose to Yugra, 5-2. Their playoff series is now tied 1-1.

Tagged with:
 

A week ago in the final minutes of Traktor’s 2-1 win over Spartak, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov absorbed an awkward hit near the end boards and suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Kuznetsov, who can be seen writhing on the ice in pain, was then taken to a local Cheylabinsk hospital where an MRI of his knee came back clean. Accordingly, Traktor Chelyabinsk’s official website announced that Kuznetsov had a bruised knee and would only miss a week of time, meaning he would be ready for the start of the KHL playoffs.

Well, not so fast! The next day, Kuznetsov flew to Germany to have European doctors take a closer look at his knee. On that flight over, Kuznetsov announced on Twitter that he’d be out three to five weeks because of the injury. After being examined, Kuznetsov gave no update on whether the diagnosis had changed.

The saga continued this past Thursday after Traktor defeated Yugra 3-1 in the first game of their KHL playoff series. Traktor’s head coach Valery Belousov told the Russian media that “Kuznetsov is on crutches for now. Don’t expect him to come back very soon.” Suffice to say, that must be one heck of a bruise to put a 19-year-old athlete on crutches.

Meanwhile, the normally chatty Kuznetsov has avoided the media altogether lately, but that wasn’t the case a few weeks ago when he went on Russia-2′s “Week of Sports” to accept the prestigious honor of being named “Russian Athlete of the Month” for January. During the fascinating ten-minute interview, host Alexey Popov asks Kuznetsov about a variety of things including the Outdoor Game he recently played in, his feelings about winning silver in the World Junior Championships, and his relationship with the Capitals. Below I offer a translation.

Continue Reading

Tagged with:
 

Friday night in Chelyabinsk, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov suffered what appeared to be a nasty knee injury in Traktor’s 2-1 win over Spartak. Kuznetsov, who can be seen writhing in pain for several minutes, was stretchered off the ice and immediately taken to the hospital.

While many news organizations in Russia speculated that the 19-year-old had torn ligaments in his knee, an MRI was conducted and Traktor’s official team website claimed that the test came back negative. It also said that their star player should be good to go for the KHL playoffs, which begin next week.

Now it appears Kuznetsov is seeking a second opinion.

Continue Reading

Tagged with:
 

Update 1:50pm: Traktor’s website says Kuznetsov should only miss a week’s worth of time and will be ready to play in the KHL’s Gagarin Cup playoffs on March 1st.

In the final minutes of Traktor’s 2-1 win over Spartak, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov was checked by defender Andre Benoit near the corner boards. According to Soviet Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov, Kuznetsov was badly injured on the play. He “fell down, was yelling, slamming hands against the ice, and was in terrible pain.”

The 19-year-old KHL superstar was then stretchered off and taken to a hospital for a MRI.

After the game, Traktor coach Valeri Belousov told the media that Kuznetsov may be done for the year.

Video of the hit that caused Kuzya’s injury can be seen below the jump.

Continue Reading

While the Capitals were busy looking for answers after getting flat-out embarrassed by division rival Carolina 5-0, across the globe Russia’s most popular sports magazine was preparing to remind them what’s in their future in high-quality, glossy color. 19-year-old Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov was chosen to be the cover athlete for PROsport Magazine’s March issue, which officially hit the newsstands on Monday.

Kuznetsov, who can be seen gazing back vulnerably at the reader, is wrapped in both a fashionable wool hat and tan scarf in the artistic cover. The publication also did a feature story on Zhenya to go along with the photos and described it as such:

At the age of 19, [Kuznetsov] became the brightest of the KHL’s new stars. Many think that he will put on a show in another league, but guys from the ChTZ District are never in a hurry and don’t ask anyone for anything. They just come and take what’s theirs.

In the accompany article, Kuznetsov reveals that he’d continue playing hockey in Russia if a team offered him a 10-year deal. He also says that, “I talked with Washington this season, now there is a pause. Tractor has made an offer, but I’m still waiting.” Fun.

Below the jump, check out a humorous behind-the-scenes video of Kuznetsov’s shoot, and the photos inside of PROsport’s March issue.

Continue Reading

Photo edit: Ian Oland

Everybody has skeletons in their closet. For instance, when I was six years old, my dad showed up to one of my school assemblies dressed up as a globe for Earth Day. He wore blue tights, a big giant globe costume, and I just realized that no power in the world is going to make me finish this story here.

One of our Swedish commenters, Dodagarenik, forwarded us a video of Evgeny Kuznetsov that might come back to haunt him.

Continue Reading

Tagged with:
 

Photo credit: Russian Hockey Federation

While the NHL announced next year’s Winter Classic between Detroit and Toronto, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov participated in his own Outdoor Game Thursdsay, as Team Russia took on the Finnish National Team. Kuznetsov finished with a goal and an assist, his tally coming on a jaw-dropping 1-on-4 semi-breakaway that not only looked good, but closed out the game 2-0.

Soviet Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov caught up with Kuznetsov after the game to talk about his goal, though characteristically Kuznetsov was more interested in talking about the team’s victory than his own “super” effort. Below the jump, RMNB’s Igor Kleyner translates their conversation.

Continue Reading

Kuznetsov lunges and scores! (Photo credit: YLE.fi)

In the first game of the Oddset Hockey Games tournament, the Russian National Team took on Finland outside at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium. Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was sporting a maroon hoodie to cope with the 1-degree temperature at puck drop (minus-5 wind chill), centered Russia’s first line. Kuznetsov proved to be Russia’s best player notching a goal and an assist in Russia’s 2-0 win.

In the first period, Kuznetsov brought the puck into the offensive zone. After battling several players along the boards, he managed to shovel the puck to Nikolai Zherdev who then attempted a wraparound. Finnish goalie Ari Ahonen was able to make the initial save, but Stanislav Chistov was first to the rebound and batted it home. 1-0 Russia.

Continue Reading

Evgeny Kuznetsov to Play In Outdoor Game

The 2012 Finland Winter Classic drew a crowd of 34,264 despite being played in -10 degree weather. (Photo credit: Matti Korpi, Jokerit.com with more photos)

Team Russia, led by Evgeny Kuznetsov, will play in an outdoor game in Helsinki tomorrow as part of the Oddset Hockey Games tournament in Sweden in the third round of EuroHockeyTour, an annual four-round competition between leading European hockey nations Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.

Continue Reading

Tagged with:
 


All photos via Kyle Mace at Sweetest Hockey on Earth.

Centers, centers, centers, everyone knows what the Capitals need right now, and Keith Aucoin is the latest attempt to fix the problem, or at least to temporarily plug the hole. Most of you should know a little more about Aucoin than most call-ups – he’s a lifetime AHLer, a future AHL Hall of Famer, and from what we’ve heard an all-around great guy. We haven’t seen him much in the big leagues, but he’s been part of the organization for awhile now. He’s not going to look nearly as flashy in the NHL as he does in the AHL, but you can bet that he will do his job.

Continue Reading