Skating and labor: Why Kucherov is the best hockey player in Tampa's history
Russian forward Nikita Kucherov became the top scorer in Tampa's history last weekend, forever inscribing his name in the history of the American club. He beat another legend of world hockey, Canadian Steven Stamkos. But the Russian is only 32 years old and he has several more seasons left to continue to show super-productive hockey.
How did the forward end up in the NHL
There are two types of Russian hockey players who have become superstars in the NHL. The first were selected in the top 5 of the draft, they left for North America at the age of 18-19 and immediately broke the league thanks to their incredible talent. Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin had similar stories.
There is a second example, when Russians were chosen somewhere at the very end, or even not at all, they stayed in the KHL, rose to the rank of superstars and went to the NHL with this baggage. These are, for example, Artemy Panarin and Kirill Kaprizov.
But Nikita Kucherov's case is unique. He did not play for CSKA, was not heavily quoted in the draft (he left at the very end of the second round), but became a cult player for the modern NHL. It is important to remember that the striker was literally forced to leave Russia: the club did not quite believe in his shoulder problems and offered to have surgery at their own expense. The young player, of course, did not have the money for surgery.
— I won't give you an exact diagnosis, but on the very first day they took a picture of me and said, "How could they even allow you to train?! Your shoulder is not holding anything at all!" Everything was torn on both sides, the shoulder was walking. They were in shock," Kucherov recounted the words of North American doctors in an interview with SE.
Tampa eventually committed to restoring the player. And she hit the jackpot. Since the 2013/14 season, a new era of Lightning has begun, associated with two names: forward Nikita Kucherov and head coach John Cooper. Only these two have remained in the team since that moment.
Why is he great
Back in 2022, The Athletic compiled its ranking of the hundred best hockey players in the history of the NHL. And the Russian, who was only 28 years old at the time, entered it at number 72.
"You're kidding, right? I don't have the speed. I don't have a throw like Matthews. I don't run like McDavid. I don't have these bright things that people talk about," Kucherov was self—critical of himself at the time.
But the Tampa forward has a completely different kind of hockey intelligence. And the players who go out on the court with him talk about it best of all.
— He slows down the game, pulls defenders out of position, and then makes a perfect pass. His favorite technique is to pull down a couple of defenders, wait for his teammates to open up, and then give a pass to a situation with a numerical advantage," Ottawa defender Artem Zubov said in an interview with RG.
If Ovechkin's office is the left faceoff circle during the majority, then Kucherov's office is the right one. It is not at all surprising that Tampa consistently shows an excellent indicator of the realization of the numerical majority, having a player in the squad who can throw powerfully from one point and make an incredibly beautiful assist. So, in the 2018/19 season, the Lightning made almost every third attempt. And it was in that regular season that the Russian became the league's top scorer, scoring 128 points.
And this is not even the striker's best season. In five years, he will give out a regular season with 144 points. In the short term, none of the Russians have a single chance to beat this figure.
Besides, Kucherov is also about stability: he became the NHL's top scorer three times. In the 21st century, only Connor McDavid has won this award more often (five times). For comparison, Ovechkin has only one such season, while Malkin and Crosby have two each. And this season, the Russian has played a series of nine consecutive matches with two or more successful actions. Even that McDavid didn't do that. And is it any wonder that at just 32, Kucherov became the top scorer in Tampa's history?
"He starts preparing for the season literally a week after the end of the previous one," Mikhail Sergachev, Kucherov's ex—Tampa partner and now Utah's leader, told Izvestia. — He sees some flaws in himself and understands that it takes a lot of time, all summer, to fix them. This is not possible during the season. That's why it works this way in the summer. He's always been a mentor to me at Tampa. Many people think that training is about running from board to board. In fact, it's more the work of the brain than the legs and arms. Nikita thinks everything through, analyzes exactly what needs to be worked out, and does it. Nikita's game is sixty percent based on game intelligence. The other forty are techniques, but they are directly related to this intelligence. The main advantage of the Heap is its brain.
At the same time, the titled defender believes that Kucherov is underestimated.
— The moment when Nikita struck me the most? It happens every game," the two—time Stanley Cup winner continued. — But I was especially shocked that summer when we trained together. Kucherov worked every day as if it were his last training session. If something didn't work out, like throwing, he stayed after class and brought it up to perfection on that particular day. Then I'd come home, go to the garage, and keep going. Such zeal was amazing. And then you start to get used to it, seeing that it's the norm for him. And on the ice, everything starts to feel ordinary. Unexpected broadcasts? It's natural for him. And it seems that it is appreciated less than it should be. McDavid is about speed and scoring, and everyone celebrates that. And Nikita is sometimes underestimated. Although he does things that others don't do.
One thing is obvious: he has consolidated his superiority over the rest of the franchise players for many, many years.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
