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On Sunday, Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Traktor Chelyabinsk played Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (say that three times fast) at home. Kuzya continued his fantastic start to the regular season, scoring two goals in the game, his second of which was his most beautiful on the season. Don’t believe me? Check out the footage after the jump.
After Traktor’s 4-3 victory over Barys Tuesday, Head Coach Valery Belousov revealed to the media that Evgeny Kuznetsov played sick. Belousov didn’t specify what type of bug Kuznetsov came down with, but with regulars Deron Quint and Raymond Giroux sitting out due to food poisoning, it was pretty easy to connect the dots.
At 2:20, Evgeny Kuznetsov's one-timer puts Traktor ahead of Torpedo for good.
Despite being sidelined for the most of the summer recovering from shoulder surgery, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov has had a great start to the KHL regular season. He’s tallied three goals on the year, most recently the game-winner in Traktor’s 5-2 victory over Torpedo, and has also scored two shootout goals which both pushed the White Bears to victory.
Traktor Head Coach Valery Belousov has brought Kuznetsov along slowly in the first couple of games, burying him on the third line and also limiting his minutes. That has not stopped the 19-year-old forward from being one of the most productive players on the team. He ranks second on the team overall in both goals and shots (25).
Sport-Express’s Alexey Shvetsov caught up with Kuzya after Wednesday’s game and the two discussed Traktor’s “disappointing” start to the regular season, the Lokomotiv tragedy, and Evgeny’s timetable on playing in Washington. RMNB’s Igor Kleyner has your translation below the jump.
Wednesday, Traktor Chelyabinsk played their second game of the regular season, taking on Barys Astana in front of 4,900 people at Kazakhstan Sports Palace. Evgeny Kuznetsov followed up his clutch performance Monday by scoring his first KHL goal of the 2011-12 season on an unchallenged breakaway in the first period. Video of the goal is above.
Photo credit: KP.RU
The KHL officially began their new season Monday at 9am Washington time, after a five day moratorium to honor the 44 men and women who tragically died in the Lokomotiv plane accident. Atlant re-started their game against Salavat Yulaev, which was named the “Lokomotiv Cup,” and Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Traktor Chelyabinsk met their conference rivals from Metallurg Novokuznetsk in their home opener. All in all, there were 7 games on the KHL ledger.
A year after putting up one of the best years ever recorded by a 18-year-old in Russia, Capitals’ prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov hit the ice a bit out of game shape after being sidelined most of the offseason due to shoulder surgery, which he admitted after the game.
The winger was active throughout the match, despite starting on the third-line and having very limited ice time, certainly not something he’s used to. As the game wore on, Kuznetsov, was moved up in the depth chart. He had a few chances on goal but wasn’t able to score or net an assist, though he did provide some beautiful set-ups for his teammates. He also picked up two minutes for elbowing, which Metallurg capitalized on to tie the game at one early in the second.
Despite winning gold at the World Junior Championships and putting up one of the best years ever recorded by a 18-year-old in Russia, Capitals prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov spent most of last year playing through pain. The reason? A nagging shoulder injury that never completely healed after offseason surgery.
So Kuznetsov, who revealed to reporters in December that he struggled doing push-ups, flew back to Germany and went under the knife again in April. Thirteen and a half weeks later — with a renegotiated contract with Traktor and wife in hand – Kuznetsov seems optimistic of a full recovery.
Sport.ru’s Andrey Osadchenko recently spoke with the now 19-year-old and the two discussed a variety of topics. Most notably for Caps fans, Kuznetsov said that he has been looking at real estate in the D.C. area and plans to play for the Capitals in 2012-13.
Below, RMNB’s Igor Kleyner has your translation.
Photo credit: Chris Gordon (Click to enlarge. He’s got beautiful blue eyes, you know.)
Evgeny Kuznetsov has had quite a year. Not only did he win a gold medal with Team Russia in the 2011 World Junior Championship, become the youngest player to ever be in the KHL All-Star Game and get engaged, but he also had the second-most goals ever in a season for a Russian player under 19-years old (17 to be exact). But how can we measure his success compared to the NHL?
Today, the World Junior Championships are set to begin in Buffalo, New York, and RMNB’s Igor Kleyner has translated a fantastic one-on-one interview between Sport Express’s Yuriy Golyshak and Capitals 2010 First Round Pick Evgeny Kuznetsov. Warning: it’s another long one.
In the article translated below, we learn even more crucial information about Kuz including his nagging shoulder injury, his thoughts on the slash Braden Holtby delivered to him during Caps Development Camp, and his experience being drafted by Washington. On top of that, we also learn about Kuznetsov’s half a year of driving without a license, his love for McDonald’s food, and his embarrassment on never seeing Alex Ovechkin play live. Check out all of that and more below the jump.
With Fedor Fedin concentrating full-time on Prospect Watch, RMNB needed a new translator. After a few months of searching, RMNB is finally happy to introduce Igor Kleyner. Igor is a native of St Petersburg, Russia, who transplanted himself to the Washington D.C. area around the same time Peter Bondra came to town in the early nineties. He currently works at Nasa and designs electronics for their spacecraft. Yes, another member of the team that can now beat Peter at Words with Friends.
In Igor’s first translation, he has chosen to share with us a long, revealing interview with Caps 2010 First Round Pick Evgeny Kuznetsov, which was first published by Sports.ru this past Monday and authored by another Igor, Igor Zhukov. The story is entitled “A Hero of our Time,” which apparently is a reference to a novel all Russian Middle Schoolers are forced to read. (These are the details we love knowing.) Anyways, check out Igor’s first translation below!
When a Caps Prospect goes above and beyond the call of duty, a one paragraph summary in Prospect Watch does not suffice. Today, we detail the fantastic first half of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s sophomore KHL season. Take it away, Fedor.
Kuznetsov gestures to Traktor fans during a post-game celebration. See the video below for more.
During the 2010 NHL Entry Draft on June 26th, General Manager George McPhee had his sights set on one player. In his eagerness, he even tried to trade away a prospect for a move up ten spots in the first round to get his man. That would prove to be unnecessary.
Evgeny Kuznetsov fell to the Caps at pick number 26. “We think he’s a very, very dynamic player,” McPhee said of Kuz at the time. ”He can skate, he thinks the game well, he moves the puck, he really attacks the net.” Braden Holtby agrees.
Fast-forward five months. You’ll find the 18 year-old tearing up the KHL in only his second season. Since being put on the “Young Guns Line” with Andrei Popov (a Philadelphia Flyers ’06 draftee) and Anton Glinkin, Kuznetsov has found some serious chemistry with his linemates. He has four goals and two assists in six games since the EuroHockeyTour break ended on November 17th. His team, Traktor Chelyabinsk, has won five straight games.
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